Haleh Mashian, the owner of Mash Gallery, loves to paint trees, flowers, water and nature. In her recent group exhibition, “À Gogo III” at the Pacific Design Center, several of her works were on display — huge paintings of trees forming a forest so dense that nothing was visible between them except tree trunks.
“I want to emulate trees because I feel they are resilient and rooted in the ground, just beautiful,” said Mashian. “They bend to anything that comes their way. They’re surrounded by the elements, but it makes them stronger. I feel their energy.”
In many ways, Mashian is like those trees. She, too, has had to bend and stand strong in the face of life’s challenges. One of the most harrowing experiences of her life began with the abduction of her father in Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution. Mashian believes he was kidnapped because he was Jewish, though no one ever admitted it or acknowledged that he had been taken by the Islamic government.
“Anyone who looked for him was asked, ‘Why are you looking for a Jew?’ So yes, I believe it had something to do with the fact that he was Jewish,” she said.
In 1986, at 20 years old, Mashian escaped Iran with her 13-year-old brother, traveling under Muslim names. “At the time, they didn’t let Jewish people leave the country, so we escaped from the northern part of Iran, first to Switzerland and then to Italy, where we stayed for four months until we were able to come to the U.S. in 1987.”
Her mother remained in Iran and did everything she could to find her husband, but to no avail.
“Imagine dealing with ISIS on a daily basis,” said Mashian. “She tried to get information from all these jihadi people, but they kept denying they ever took him. After all these years, she never got closure, and in the end, she came up empty-handed. They never disclosed what happened to him, but a few years ago, she found out that he was killed.”
Eventually, her mother, now 82, left Iran and immigrated to the U.S. a year ago. Had Mashian’s father been alive today, he would have been 93.
Mashian began painting later in life, at 25. Before that, she was a pianist but never had the opportunity to explore painting. Once she did, she couldn’t stop. “I realized that I was able to express my emotions through art, to let go of anything that needed to come out. No matter what series I do, there is a lot of energy in any art I create. Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes painful. I’m very appreciative that I have this outlet.”
At first, she painted in her home studio, finding solace in art as a form of healing. But the solitude became isolating, leading her to open Mash Gallery in 2018 in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. In 2022, she moved the gallery to its current location on La Cienega in West Hollywood.
“I went to a meditation retreat led by Dr. Michael Gottlieb, and during one of these meditations, I saw myself in my studio alone all day, cut off from the world. In that moment, I knew I needed to engage with the world — find a way to be an artist, develop my craft, and continue creating while being part of a community. That’s when I went for it and opened my gallery.”
Initially, she wasn’t focused on representing other artists, especially in the age of Instagram, when artists can showcase and sell their work independently. But eventually, she began filling her gallery with works from other artists, each one unique, yet all resonating with her.
“I look at art differently. It can be pop art, colorful art, edgy art — any kind of art, really — but it has to have a soul, be inspiring and speak to me as an artist.”
Mashian curated “À Gogo III,” featuring a collection of works from over 50 artists of diverse backgrounds. The exhibition showcases an exceptional mix of contemporary pieces by local, national and international artists, featuring bold, pop-inspired works, from a massive wooden statue of King David to an impressive portrait of a woman made entirely out of paintbrushes.
Although she personally wasn’t affected by the Palisades fires, Mashian has friends who lost their homes or were evacuated and are still unsure when they will be able to return. She decided to donate 10% of the exhibition’s proceeds to LA Wildfire Relief, aiding communities impacted by devastating wildfires.
This is not the first time she has donated proceeds from her exhibits to important causes. After Oct. 7, she held a group exhibition of female Jewish artists at Mash Gallery and donated 100% of ticket sales and 50% of sales proceeds to female survivors of trauma and sexual violence in Israel.
Her husband, Bryan Mashian, a lawyer, was by her side, as usual, at the exhibit. The couple married in 1991 and have two children, a 28-year-old son and a 25-year-old daughter.
“He is my biggest supporter; he is my rock,” said Mashian of her husband. “He encourages my growth and believes in me and my work.”
Mashian has showcased the works of nearly 500 local and international artists since opening Mash Gallery. Some of her pieces have been purchased by overseas collectors who she has never met in person and who bought her work online without seeing it first.
“To me, it’s meaningful because they don’t know me, but they resonate with my art,” she said. “They feel a connection to it.”
With her local clients, she has a more personal relationship. One client arrived at her gallery with a bouquet of flowers, deeply moved by her art and wanting to show her appreciation. Some of these clients have become close friends.
“I wanted to create this space as an intimate place of gathering,” said Mashian of her gallery. “I believe that a lot of the old gallery model will become obsolete. I saw the need for people to connect and be part of a community, especially after COVID and the fires. There is power in being together. In my little corner on La Cienega, people come and engage with each other.”
When asked for her best advice to aspiring artists, she emphasized the importance of dedication and refinement.
“Create a cohesive body of work where one can see the intention behind what you’re creating. If you want to go commercial, you have to dedicate enough time and not fall in love with the first thing you do.”
Mashian also composes music for every art series, believing that the music and the art complement one another.
“Creativity is not limited to one act,” she said. “If you’re creative — and everybody’s creative in some way or form — it’s just a matter of bringing that quality to the surface. Whenever you create, you are touching your essence and that, in itself, has so much healing power.”
She continued, “I love celebrating other people’s creativity. If we all tapped into that aspect of ourselves, the world would be a much better place.”
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