In the classic tradition of the Fauve painters of the early 20th century, Issa Shojaei achieves a haunting sensitivity in his portraits of enigmatic young women. His instinct for primal moods and, perhaps, the overt tension of form and colour to translate persona, provide the emotional affair that takes place between the viewer and the figure. The Shojaei woman is the clandestine female, the arcane seductress, the essential woman engaged in a cultural awakening of her own being. In her awkward gracefulness, she is confident; in her covert silence, she is mysterious.

Shojaei says, "In the classic tradition of the Bauhaus, I achieve in my art forms a complexity of statements equal to the developing technologies and multi-cultural influences of the past and 21st centuries. My statements are those of philosophical history combing universally recognized forms from the ancients to my contemporaries. The world is in many places and I seek to engage you through my eyes, a cultural awakening, penetrating the unfamiliar in the safety of ignorance and innocence."

Issa Shojaei was born in Azerbaigan and was educated in Iran and in Germany. He now lives and works in Toronto.