Atashkadeh

Acrylic, colored pencil and pyrography on wood

The liminal state of the world at the onset of the pandemic coupled with the inconceivable scale of collective grief and societal reckoning led me to reconnect with spiritual practices rooted in my ancestral past. From this place, I found myself moving through rituals - both inherited and intuited - as a mode of bearing witness, building relationship, learning and surrender. No matter the occasion, fire has always been present. Just as it burns, sometimes uninterrupted for centuries, inside Zoroastrian temples built by my ancestors. My bowl depicts the Faravahar, which is one of the most widely known symbols of this faith, burned onto wood in its embodiment.