Mahsa R. Fard was born and grew up in Tehran, Iran. She studied painting at the School of Art and Architecture in Tehran and moved to the United States to pursue her graduate studies at Maryland Institute College of Art, where she received an MFA in Painting in 2019. Since then, she has been working in her Baltimore studio and has participated in group and solo shows nationally and internationally.

Growing up in Iran, Fard has always been conscious of the dominant patriarchal gaze in both the public and private sphere. Navigating these masculine orders as a woman requires a wide range of strategies. Through her paintings, she represents these orders and approaches, and speculates possible scenarios through which to maneuver.