Stitch and Hatch

Thinking about beauty and pain and how beauty can be a vehicle for pain. It can express, instead of concealing or oppressing, while remaining approachable and inviting. Some pains are sacred, as they are the aftermath of fighting for the greater good. Needles poke into the body of the fabric and make a scar. The consciousness of the body turns these scars into beauty instead of gruesomeness. Whether this or that, beautiful or ugly, is a collective decision made throughout history, passed down to me–more of an ancient collective consciousness than an individual sense. 
Stitch and Hatch is an ongoing drawing in the expanded field that explores alternative surfaces and mark-making. In this series, I investigate hierarchy by employing stitching with thread as an alternative for hatching in drawing, muslin instead of primed canvas, and dying and collaging instead of painting with brush. To process feelings of homesickness and longing (دلتنگی), I  sought refuge in Persian literature, especially poetry. I employ Persian calligraphy solely as a visual element to create non-representational compositions and express untranslatable sentiments.