Between Absence and Memory is an ongoing body of work examining family, inheritance and the persistence of memory. Through portraiture, symbolism and references to Persian language and culture, the series considers how identity is shaped by those who came before us, and how traces of their lives remain embedded within our own.
From Behind the Veil
Inspired by a line of poem (Hafez) — “There is a conversation between you and me from behind the veil” — this work reflects on the enduring presence of those who have departed. The figures portrayed are members of my family, now gone, yet still woven into my memory and identity. The veil becomes a threshold between absence and presence, the visible and the unseen. While part of me departed with them, part of them remains alive within me. The amaryllis, a favourite flower of my father, stands as a symbol of life continuing on this side of the curtain.
Étude for a Lost Spring
Étude for a Lost Spring is a meditation on memory, place and the rituals of renewal. Drawing on recollections of Nowruz celebrations, the work brings together fragments of a vanished world: the scent of violets, washed courtyard tiles, new clothes and the chatter of sparrows. These details, once ordinary, have become vessels of remembrance. At its heart lies the recognition that longing often resides not in grand events, but in the small sensory traces that survive them. As the accompanying text suggests, Nowruz is another name for longing.
Ah, mother...
Part portrait and part remembrance, Ah, Mother draws upon the visual language of dressmaking to reflect on memory, inheritance and care. Patterns, measurements and stitched lines form a quiet architecture around the figure, tracing a life spent creating for others. The work considers how knowledge, gestures and acts of making are passed between generations, becoming part of the fabric of those who remain.