Shattered Poems
Shattered Poems began as an exploration of how to visualize a phrase by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. Rather than approaching the work through traditional calligraphy, I sought a more contemporary visual language. As I deconstructed the phrases, isolating words and individual letters, I became increasingly drawn to the expressive power of the Persian script as form. The letters’ curves, lines, and points became the foundation of my abstraction, transforming language into a dynamic gestural vocabulary.
The work centers around the Nasta’liq script, a Persian calligraphic tradition deeply rooted in Iranian art and literature. Through abstraction, repetition, rhythm, scale, and movement, the script shifts beyond its linguistic function into a visual and emotional experience. The work invites viewers, regardless of their familiarity with Persian language or culture, to connect intuitively through form, movement, and feeling.
Shattered Poems exists at the intersection of past and present, language and abstraction, personal memory and shared experience. It reflects a search for connection through a visual language that moves beyond cultural and communicative boundaries.
