Shahla Habibi, painter, and teacher, was born in Rasht. She completed her master's course in visual communication at the School of Decorative Arts, Paris, and graduated from this university in 1971. Habibi participated in Saint-Gratien Festival (France) in 1978 with her paintings and sculptures and won its prize. After returning to Iran, she held her first exhibition in 1975 at the Sheikh Gallery in Tehran. Since then, she has exhibited her works many times inside the country and in countries such as the United States of America, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. She also became a member of the Dana group between 2001 and 2004. A group of Iranian women artists, such as Farah Osooli and Gizella Varga Sinai, etc., was established in 2001 to present their works independently. During its six years of activity, it exhibited the artworks of many Iranian women artists in the country and internationally. She also taught art at Al-Zahra University and in art colleges from 1973 to 1988.

Habibi organizes her paintings based on "unity in plurality." Her symmetrical compositions have a complex internal order: masses of human figures (sometimes accompanied by animal motifs such as horses and chickens) suspended over a geometrically divided ground, inducing inward circular or spiral movement. In some paintings, this unifying order is intensified by the rhythm of colors and patterns. Two important features of this artist's works, i.e., emphasis on geometrical structure and ornamentation, are borrowed from Islamic Iran's image and calligraphy traditions. She has said about her works: "My work in painting is to deal with human beings... a human being who is constantly striving and searching and is not at peace at the same time. I propose this human restlessness in a sublime direction, to reach a spiritual evolution or to mysticism and spirituality. Some of her works have been presented and sold in Artcurial and different periods of Tehran auction.