Sudi Sharafshahi is a painter, sculptor, photographer and cartoonist who has lived in New York City since 1975. She graduated with a B.F.A. in painting from the Faculty of Art at Tehran University in 1970. She received an M.F.A. in sculpture and graphics from the Royal Academy of The Hague, Holland, in 1974, with a scholarship from the Dutch government. Sudi continued her training in New York City at New York University, Pratt, and the School of Visual Arts.

She has won several painting and graphic design awards, including the Medal of Honor in the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe 119th Annual Juried Exhibition (2015); the Merit Award at the Human Rights Art Exhibition (2014); the Gertrud Mills Memorial Award at Pen and Brush, New York City (2001); the Paul Revere Award for Graphics Excellence, New York City (1991); and the Art Direction Magazine International Award, New York City, for 1986 and 1987.

Sudi has had a number of solo shows and has been part of group exhibitions in museums and biennials throughout Europe, Iran, Japan, South America, and the United States. Her work is part of the permanent collection of the Modern Art Museum of The Hague, Holland.