Maryam Takalou (Persian: مریم تکلو) is an Iranian-born, Dallas-based artist-scholar who explores themes of space, landscape, and memory through video, installation, sculpture, and other visual media. Drawing on Persian painting traditions as alternative modes of perception, she repositions these forms within Western landscapes to examine the body, memory, and their roles within power structures. Her work investigates defamiliarization and the restructuring of landscape, viewing it as a visually constructed phenomenon rather than an objective reality.

In 2010, Maryam received first prize for drawing at the Afarinesh Festival, held by the University of Tehran, and the Art Youth Festival, held at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. She is also the recipient of the Florida State University Scholarship Award (2019), the Andy McLachlin Memorial Award (2021–2022) for exceptional artistic achievement, the Mary Ola Miller Reynolds Award (2021) for contributions to studio art, multiple Artistic Materials Fund Awards (2019–2022), the Harry W. Bass Jr. Graduate Research and Travel Award (2023 and 2024), and the Robert Plant Armstrong Endowed Scholarship Fund (2024). She was also the Florida State University’s nominee for the Dedalus Foundation Fellowship in 2022. Maryam participated in and curated several exhibitions in Tehran at prominent galleries such as Hoor, Shirin, Arya, and Elahe. Her book Painting in Video Art (in Persian) was published in 2012. After moving to the United States in 2019, she has participated in several exhibitions and workshops in Florida, Massachusetts (Boston), and Texas.

Takalou’s work has been featured in SIX Magazine (2021), VOA TV News (2023), Dallas News (2023), Head Topics (2023), and more. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she teaches courses on visual arts.