The poetic sensuality of Ghazaleh Khalifeh’s work originates in the rich artistic traditions of her Iranian heritage. Khalifeh, who holds an MFA in textile design and a BFA in fashion design from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, describes her aesthetic as “hyper-fragrant realism” imbued with “romantic intensity” as well as “nomadic newness.”

Khalifeh, who lives in California, is entranced by the artifacts and crafts she discovers at open-air flea markets—Afghani jewelry, African beads, Chinese floral embroideries, to name a few. Here, tellingly, is where “so many cultures and periods of history coexist alongside one another in a singular time and place.” Like the Persian carpets of her ancestry, Khalifeh demonstrates a passion for weaving together a global exchange of ideas and techniques.

Her obsession with touch and a fascination for heirlooms have fueled her desire to empower individuals to find meaning in their clothes, to feel “grounded” and “vital.” In her words, she wants people to feel “determined to ecstatically bloom outwards from within.”

Collaboration and creativity, for Khalifeh, are introspective processes—a way to stretch oneself beyond what’s possible. During Khalifeh’s MFA, she developed eclectic and thought-provoking textiles for a collection she and a fashion designer, working together, called “Tribal Graffiti.” Today, her project, as a LIFEWTR Series 3 Artist, represents the next step in a global effort to inspire and empower individuality in all of us.