Urban Mermaid

Haleh Mashian’s “Urban Mermaid” is a bold, textured work of contemporary art that brings together abstract expressionism and urban street art. In this mixed media painting, a female figure emerges from a swirl of intense color and heavy texture—a mythological mermaid who's been catapulted into urban city living.

The texture in this piece is one of its most powerful features. Layers of paint are poured, scraped, and built up in a way that gives the artwork a three-dimensional, sculptural quality. Mashian uses a bold color palette—neon greens, fiery reds, deep blacks, and cool blues—that creates a sense of both chaos and harmony. These colors hint at water reflections, but also graffiti, concrete, and city lights. The bright red shapes that wrap around the figure could be her hair, spray paint, or just energy moving through the piece. That mix of natural and urban elements gives the painting its edge.

“Urban Mermaid” is full of symbolism, but it stays grounded. The mermaid—often seen as a symbol of beauty, mystery, and transformation—is reimagined here in a modern setting. This painting is a great fit for collectors or art lovers looking for abstract figurative artwork with emotion, texture, and strong visual impact. It speaks to themes of identity, femininity, and modern life, while offering a bold and original aesthetic. “Urban Mermaid” is a strong example of how Haleh Mashian uses mixed media techniques to create art that’s both thought-provoking and visually unforgettable.

About the Artist

As a painter and creative expressionist, Mashian's abstract works reveal her appreciation of color theory, compositional form, and studying positive and negative space. Working in mixed media and using various techniques from collage to impasto, a repeated layering and application of paint, Mashian's dynamic pieces range from smaller artworks that can be arranged together to large-scale paintings. Her large-paneled paintings have been exhibited nationally in Los Angeles, Miami, and are included in private collections in the United States and abroad.