Haneif Katebi
Originally from Stillwater, Oklahoma, Haneif attended Oklahoma State University from 2006-2008, studying Architecture, Graphic Design, and Fine Art. He then moved to Detroit, MI to attend the College for Creative Studies, pursuing his childhood dream of becoming an Automotive Designer.
During his time at CCS, Haneif took a multitude of Fine Art courses, in addition to his rigorous Industrial Design curriculum. He received his BFA in Transportation Design in May 2012, and signed with General Motors as a Creative Sculptor that same year. Immediately after graduation, Haneif started his first series: Flux, which attempts to capture emotions related to speed, and the intense sense of euphoria it creates.
Haneif Katebi’s work is based on fleeting, euphoric emotions and the infinite, yet momentary state of time they occupy. The transient nature of Haneif’s work is directly related to his addiction to speed and acceleration, psychology, spirituality, and the reminiscence his childhood; painted in a way that allows the emotion to be inspired from within the viewer. Unlike the traditional form of semiotic convention which creates connections via conscious mind, Katebi’s work attempts to conjure self-inspired emotions that emanate from the viewer’s unconscious mind to 
create a genuine emotion in the viewer. Haneif has always been experimental in nature, and when it comes to artwork he states: “I’m something like a scientist—a scientist of form and color. My curiosity feeds my experimentalism which in turn ignites my imagination, inspiring me to use a multitude of unconventional paints and painting techniques.” His approach is spontaneous; in his down-time, his subconscious mind is hard at work solving problems, piecing together the puzzle that is the canvas. Sometimes He’ll return to a painting only to add one mark, other times it will undergo a complete makeover and the marks underneath become a subtle, almost invisible background. “Once a painting has fulfilled its emotional purpose, then I consider it complete.”
