Simurgh Birding Initiative, 2016

Anodized prints on aluminum and oil paints on aluminum (31 modules)
Size: 164 x 112 inches (each module is 12 x12 in.)

Simurgh Birding Initiative is a painting on aluminum, made up of 31 modules. It is structured as a concrete poem, where geometry and color groupings establish visual rhythms. It is based on the narrative of the Conference of the Birds, a celebrated literary masterpiece of Persian literature by poet Farid ud-Din Attar. In the poem, the birds of the world assemble to agree who is to be their sovereign, as they have none. The hoopoe, a colorful fowl and the wisest winged creature, implores his fellow kind to locate Simurgh, a legendary bird from Iranian myth. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represents a human fault that inhibits us from attaining enlightenment. The artwork deconstructs the poem’s narrative, and the painterly process creates elemental visual modules representative of the characters.