I come from a family of artists, poets, musicians, and singers whose line of work was abruptly banned after the 1979 revolution in Iran. My mother played oud in the national choir, my aunt was a recognized voice in pop and alternative music, and my grandfather had a published book of poetry. Art was always part of my story, but not one I was allowed to discover in my youth.
Growing up, my father’s strict expectation of me was discipline, achievement, and a path toward top universities. Creativity was an afterthought to be pursued after academic success. It wasn’t until I moved to the United States at the age of 19 that I first experimented with calligraphy, sketching names of the few of my significant others in English in the early 2000s without fully understanding what it meant to me. That understanding came much later.
2024 was spiritually, emotionally, and mentally transformative period, and along with a few individuals who entered my life, shifted my sense of purpose. What followed in 2025 was one of the most challenging years I’ve faced, marked by personal and marital upheaval. In the middle of that, calligraphy, this time in Farsi, became my angel of salvation.
Breaking with the typical traditional approach, my designs are influenced by the movement, emotion, and visual style of graffiti, where structures break, lines stretch, and expression refuses to be contained.
What started as a way to process everything I was going through became something more: discovering a long-chased passion, and reclaiming of identity.
Each piece reflects that journey. Many designs are names of family, individuals who helped shape my transformation, or those who pulled me back to myself. Others capture emotions I’ve lived through or witnessed up close, tension, growth, loss, clarity, and more.
This isn’t just calligraphy. It’s Farsi reimagined, through chaos, resilience, and a modern lens - where an ancient civilization’s heritage meets the street.