Magical stories, glitching mouse cursers, the clinking of the keyboard, and scratches of pen and ink. 

Situated in the fluctuating and shifting currents of the world, my practice of design and arts explores my position and relation within them and ways of navigating the turmoils. Guided by discourses of Care, Resistance and liberation, curiosity of old and new knowledge, and seeking the playfulness of mischievous wisdom of myths and nature, my practice becomes a vessel for reimagining the world. Through writing, drawing, audio, video, reading, and design methods, combined with my cultural heritage, I seek to show the delicateness of existing in this world with all its complexities, beauties, and clashing elements, and the connection between them.

Amidst a hurricane of violence, grief, and cynicism, as I struggled to navigate the shifting currents of the world, to seek hope, and ways of transformation and understanding, Magic found me, aiding me with its tools in my journey of resistance. Through Magic, I uncovered my method of moving toward liberation. With Magic reading, a practice inspired by Divination and fortune-telling methods of Tea reading, Tarot, and astrology as a method of caring for one’s and each other's reality, I explore the ways Magic becomes a tool of connection, understanding, wisdom, transformation, and resistance.

دورت بگردم - (Let me circle/rotate around you)

Let me circle you/ rotate around you is a translation of the phrase 

دورت بگردم in Farsi, this saying is widely and generously used for communicating affection and feelings of adoration and love in daily life.  

This Installation features two works, her and a Magic reading table. 

Her is made of Plants hanging from the ceiling in a circle. 

As I built her, adding each knot and hanging each plant, she became tangible in the space, alive and salient. As I circled her, building and tending to her my growing bond and presence opened up this connection. Through her, I could talk again about the difficulties, emotions, and thoughts for my country, and living through the current political climate. The audio available with her is the narration of the letter I wrote for her while sitting in this room, surrounded by its contrasting lines of metal and grey.

The circle of Magic reading lies in the corner of the room, next to her, where you can sit down, enjoy a cup of tea, and engage in the process of Magic reading with the help of the booklet and me as the host in the space. 

Profile Image by Veronica Laminarca

Images 1,4,5,6 and the header are by Iliana Michali