BADRI VALIAN

Conceptual Artist Badri Valian

In her Los Altos Hills home, artist Badri Valian converted the three-car garage into her art studio. She did all the renovation herself, sometimes requiring three trips per day to the home improvement store. She meticulously cleaned every corner, sheetrocked and carpeted the space so it resembles a homey room more than a former garage. One set of exposed cables and pipes running vertically against a wall couldn’t be hidden, so she covered them with a vintage glass window. “It’s now like a piece of art,” she says. 

Prodigy Arts School

Badri’s home studio is open to her art students of all ages. Neighbors may have seen an A-frame sign for Prodigy Art School in front of the house. Her one-on-one art classes for children focus on developing creativity, rather than drawing a realistic image. “My goal is to help them build up their own creativity. That is why I call my art classes Creative Painting—the final outcome or product is not the big deal.” At the end of her lessons she often crumples her own work up to toss in the trash to demonstrate that it’s all about the creative process, not the finished product. Sometimes, the kids imitate her. She says that learning creative skills transfers well to other disciplines. “If we are expecting our kids to succeed in Silicon Valley in the future as a founder of a startup company, as an engineer, as a VC or investor, they have to have skills and creativity—both, together, to succeed.” Parents find that Badri’s students can and do indeed handle things more creatively than before.

For adults, she offers live model figure drawing classes in the evening. 

Current and upcoming projects

“I think conceptual art saved me when I decided to find my voice as a woman, as someone who was left behind by the Islamist regime to stand still back in her home country,” she shares. Badri graduated from Fine Arts University in Iran with a B.A. in Visual Arts. She taught Art History in Iran for 15 years and was awarded for her creative work in abstract as well as expressive paintings before moving to the US. After four years of living in the States, she says she had a realization one day that changed how she approached her art. “It was like someone in my heart told me to wake up! Like someone said: You are in the land of free Speech and well designed democracy. This is the time to open up, to think loud and to speak loud enough to let other women from this country hear your voice.” She began adding new elements to her work, incorporating motion, sound and human interaction.

The themes presented in her conceptual work reflect her fascination with the human body and with human communication. “In my 2D paintings, I always have a nude figure model with dynamic poses,” she says. “And most of my conceptual art projects require interaction with humans.” For a current project that’s raising awareness for women’s rights, Badri is collecting donations of bras. She has received 300 so far, with 700 more needed by September. To find out about this project and her other current work, her website is www.badrivalian.com. She also shows her work at Art Ventures Gallery in Menlo Park.

Recently Badri collaborated with two famous Iranian singers to create a video of an improvisational, interdisciplinary piece. Painting on a large format canvas on the floor, she pours and shakes the paint on, to the background of Farsi lyrics. “I tried to connect with the emotion they expressed with music, and channelled that into my painting,” she told me as we viewed the demo. She hopes to show the video at a major local museum this year.

Badri is a full-time artist who treats her work seriously. “I’m committed to treating my art like my baby, to grow it up. That is why I’m involved with it 24/7. I cannot ignore it even when I’m in my bed.”

From mountain climbing to Silicon Valley

Badri’s husband Hamid Najafi, also originally from Iran, is a 1983 Stanford graduate and an early Silicon Valley pioneer. His electrical engineering accomplishments include having designed Samsung’s first handheld cellular phone. Currently he is the CEO and Founder of the Rover Health Company. 

She remembers the way they met during a time they were both living in Iran. “It was 2007 and I was pretty accomplished as a female mountain climber in Iran,” she shares. She had already climbed the highest mountain peaks in Africa, Turkey and Iran. “At that time I was getting ready for my first trip to the Himalayas in Nepal.” A mutual friend made an introduction to Hamid, a potential sponsor for her Himalayan exploration. “Then we met each other and our romance started gradually a year after.” 

Soon, she was back in the Himalayas, taking part in an intense competition run by Iran’s National Mountain Climbing Federation. One of only eight female climbers out of 80 National Team Members, she climbed a 23,000-foot single mount at the border of Tibet. It remains one of her favorite accomplishments to date.

“In 2012 Hamid decided to go back to Silicon Valley again, and that’s how I came to the United States.   To celebrate our ten year anniversary two years ago, we ended up with a big big destination wedding in Turkey.  We invited a lot of friends and family from different countries.” Following their chosen theme, “the beauty of simpleness,” they bought wedding rings for under $100 the day before the ceremony and picked up a very simple but elegant wedding dress for Badri. 

It’s clear that Hamid loves his wife’s work. “He’s my best supporter,” she says. Completing their family is a rescue cat named Kish Mish, meaning raisin in Farsi. “Sometimes I’m asking myself, what was my life looking like before Kish Mish? I’m sure it wasn't as enjoyable and charming as it is now.”

Badri isn’t hiking the Himalayas anymore, but living near Byrne Preserve means that nature walks are always available. “We do hiking over the weekend and we spend time together as much as we can,” she says. 

Los Altos Hills: wilderness maintained

“In my late 20s, I was sleeping in nature more than my apartment. It required a lot of effort and driving to get out of Tehran to be in nature. But here, I’m in the middle of the beautiful nature of Los Altos Hills. I feel so blessed and lucky when I hear an owl singing at midnight or watch a group of deer sit down in front of my bedroom window in the morning.”

“I feel like I’m living in a palace where everything has been designed to maintain the wilderness as wild as it is. I enjoy it more when I remember that nature and these wild animals have permitted me to stay beside them in peace and silence.”

The couple has taken advantage of the temperate climate to grow some familiar fruits from Iran. Their property is home to Persian mulberry, sour cherry, Japanese persimmon, and pomegranate trees, as well as a small vineyard.  Hamid added Tuscan flair to the ranch style home, making it a small villa retreat reminiscent of Italy in Los Altos Hills. 

Their New Year’s Eve resolution was to create community by inviting neighbors over for a social gathering. One woman told them, “I’ve lived here since 1975. This is the first time I’ve had the chance to meet my neighbors.” 

Silicon Valley Open Studios

Neighbors can meet Badri and tour her garage studio as part of Silicon Valley Open Studios. She looks forward to meeting people during the Los Altos Hills portion of the event the second weekend in May. “I love the whole concept.” She says she genuinely enjoys having visitors to her studio! In addition she is volunteering to help the organization with its social media this year. To mark your calendar for this year’s Silicon Valley Open Studios, find more information at www.svos.org.