Statement:

The Figure of the Garden; In this series, instead of focusing on a text-based research, I prioritized imagery over everything.

After making a number of preliminary drawings and sketches, I focused on the Garden of Golestan Palace in Tehran, Qajar's Royal Citadel of Tehran and its Imperial Hall or Sarai-e-Homayouni.///

During the early years of Qajar dynasty, the commuting path between the citadel and the south of the city was a bridge called Takhteh Pol (or gang- plank). The current series could be an evocation of that bridge, Takhte pol, as a pathway to the citadel!

In order to avoid manipulating the interpretation of the audience with any further explanation, I would like to finish my text with an embellishment, a somewhat irrelevant half-line from Saadi!

Merely a garden to behold and rejoice, no fruit it bears to none

Salé Sharifi

Spring 2024