When I first encountered Mally Khorasantchi’s work, what first struck me were her “roots”–literally, as well as artistically. Many of her paintings combine plants and roots, and some are entwined around photos of ancestors. Her work reflects nature and combines that with telling the story of her own evolution.
Mally, GNL Class XIV, was born and grew up in post-WWII Germany. At a very early age, Mally was taught to be independent and responsible. She learned first hand what it was to be a strong woman. Her mother was widowed in 1960. Two years later, her mother developed cancer. With her husband gone, she went from being main buyer for a major department store to being the first woman in Germany to own and manage a General Motors auto dealership.
Mally says the most challenging experience, hence, accomplishment, in her life, was immigrating to the US in 1992, when she and husband, Ali, moved to Naples and proceeded to become American citizens.
Mally began her professional life operating a Merle Norman business with two employees and when she closed her business, she had two stores and eighteen employees and , the meantime, two children. She says that beyond her art and professional life, her most important accomplishment is raising two children who are fine characters. After closing her stores, she launched her new career as artist and her work is in galleries in Tampa, Sanibel, Estero, in Miromar Design Center, and Gallerie am Stadtmuseum in Duesseldorf, Germany.
As Mally’s art shows, she has a passion for the natural world and feels one of the great challenges in our community is preserving natural habitat and the impact of landscaping, pouring fertilizer and other chemicals into the gulf.
She also cares deeply about arts education for our Collier County children. She continues to be an active member of the United Arts Council. She treasures her GNL connections and the ability to make new friends easily.
Mally is featured in the December 2011 issues of eBella Magazine.
Photo courtesy Mally Khorasantchi.