“I like the word ‘mutates’ as a way to address the ongoing complex growth in my practice,” says Nasim Hantehzadeh. “I know the word’s meaning addresses scientific resources, but I am thinking about it in more of a metaphoric context to address complexity, nuance, and change.” One look at the percolating Shock, in which oil and oil stick unleash biomorphic forms in energized transformation, and you begin to understand the artist’s vision of “mutates and grows.” Hantehzadeh was born in the U.S., raised in Iran, and then returned to America for further art studies in Chicago and Los Angeles, where they live and work. These wonderfully colorful paintings contain cellular and paramecium shapes that are filled with decorative elements from both countries. Brimming with life force, you could say the paintings are about the biology of creation. —Laura Jacobs