Katherine Zahra Khayami was born in New York City in 2003. Raised by an Iranian immigrant and with a French education, her multicultural upbringing shaped her. Her profound passion for Persian culture drove her to start Emory’s Persian Cultural Association. As the organizer’s president, she hosted the school’s first Norooz, Persian New Year celebration. Under her leadership, the organization grew to 25 members and fundraised over $5k.

She graduated from Emory University in Marketing and Visual Arts. Khayami considers herself a mixed-media artist, creating poetry, photography, collage, graphic design, and projects with photo and text. Self-taught in Adobe Illustrator, in her designs she speaks up about social injustice and violence. Her latest design is an echo of the Zan Zendegi Azadi (Women Life Freedom) movement for Iranian women and human rights.

In 2022, she was the intern of conceptual artist Maryam Khosrovani. Since then, she has been her archivist and assistant – supporting her upcoming spring 2027 exhibitions in Switzerland and Pakistan.  

At Emory as a Visual Arts student, she created a capstone exhibition in the Spring of 2025. Her project “RGBM” consists of a poem and four collages. Each collage is made up of photography and experimental painting. The collages are representations of her experiences with red (light), green (leaves), blue (water), and magenta (sky) in nature.

Publications:

“Chahar Bagh” exhibition statement – Maryam Khosrovani first solo show 2022

Lipstick Lady poem - Emory Alloy Literary Magazine 2023

Alice portrait photo- Emory Alloy Literary Magazine

An Age poem- Rebelle Zine 2025

Honors:

Exhibition name – Maryam Khosrovani “Imaginary Connections” 2019

Artist Spotlight article feature - Emory Wheel 2023