Sedaghat Jabbari shows a loyalty to the geometrical limitations of the painting frame in the present piece, while escaping any other conventional rules. The work apparently displays a notable resemblance to Islamic inscriptions. However, the nature of black and white balance and the way various fields of energy are distributed throughout the piece, take the piece far from the tenets of the traditional practice. The artist deliberately avoids the harmonic dignity of the ‘friezes’. The letters pass over each other without fully overlapping. Some suddenly break into pieces, each fragment going on a lonesome existence in an over-crowded atmosphere. They are simply juxtaposed within a non-sympathetic symbiosis. The whole composition illustrates a metaphor of norms, rules and relationships of the contemporary world.
The background is made up of tonal variations extending across the canvas. The brown-gray tonalities with the presence of turquoise are those of Jabbarii’s favourites, a combination recalling Persian desert architecture. While the prevalent palette in Jabbari’s calligraphy-paintings is generally a cold, quiet gradient, the occasional presence of warm, bright colours is possible, as seen in the present piece. Here, red touches represent a warm, safe and passionate company; a delicate existence which affects the whole composition. This manner of application of warm colours in Jabbari’s work is indebted to a practice precedent in Persian traditional inscription and manuscripts.
