Name: How art helped me grapple with grief
Uploaded: 2025-05-02T15:01:19Z
Duration: 8 min 4 s
Description: With just a few lines, cartoons can say so much with so little. In a moving talk, cartoonist Navied Mahdavian shares his process for distilling huge concepts into drawings on the page — and shows how his work helped him grieve the death of his beloved grandmother, flaws and all.

Navied Mahdavian: How art helped me grapple with grief

How art helped me grapple with grief

With just a few lines, cartoons can say so much with so little. In a moving talk, cartoonist Navied Mahdavian shares his process for distilling huge concepts into drawings on the page — and shows how his work helped him grieve the death of his beloved grandmother, flaws and all.

Art can transform the pain of loss into a source of meaning and human connection. By drawing his grandmother’s hands, the artist distilled a lifetime of memories and complex emotions into simple lines. Seeking not to flatten or idealize her, he captured both her beauty and her flaws, creating space for honest mourning. Through inhabiting different perspectives on the page, he found empathy, forgiveness, and a way to share grief without words.