Figure of Speech
Acrylic on Canvas; 6′ x 8′
Figure of Speech explores the intersection of imagination and physical reality, language and meaning, and the abstract and concrete. Drawing inspiration from quilt making, street art, outsider and ethnic art, Islamic traditions, and German Expressionism, these paintings employ bold colors and strong contrasts to set the stage for abstracted, interlocking shapes to emerge.
Each work functions like a tangram or jigsaw puzzle, with overlapping forms creating a dynamic interplay between foreground and background. While non-representational, the shapes carry a presence that can evoke recognition or familiarity.
Influenced by Persian and Islamic miniature painting, these compositions emphasize totality and coordination, where figures, landscapes, and architecture form a unified pattern. Like miniatures, the work encourages viewers to move beyond physical form and enter a space of essence, abstraction, and intuitive insight — bridging the concrete and the imagined.