Literature

The Language of Movement and the Movement of Language, 2025, works on canvasI keep dreaming about symbols that I cannot decipher, yet I see them vividly. In my most recent dream, I saw myself flying over these symbols. I felt as if they were communicating with me directly. I received their meaning as a sensation, yet, for some reason, I couldn't translate it into any familiar language—and perhaps I shouldn't.Recently, I stumbled upon internet images of many petroglyphs and geoglyphs featuring symbols strikingly similar to those from my dreams. Encountering them triggered a powerful resonance. A friend visited me at my studio recently, and afterward, he shared a dream he had about a white mountain covered in these same symbols engraved on its surface, with me climbing this mountain.I wonder why these symbols connect so profoundly with the realm of dreams. Why are they so vivid, yet untranslatable? Perhaps their meaning is meant to remain untranslatable, experienced as emotion rather than as language.At first, when exploring this artistic language, I recognized a tension between forms as my hands moved in a circular, organic motion along the drawn lines: a circular shape and a line that repeatedly interrupted its flow. Initially, I noticed how the line continually disrupted the circle’s fluidity, creating an ongoing tension between the desire to break open the circle and the circle’s inherent impulse to self-contain and reform. This dynamic gave rise to endless emergences of Arabic-like forms in these works. Later, while in a meditative state as I moved my hands across the canvas, I had a sudden insight: nūn seemed to be the key to shaping Arabic letters. I saw unfamiliar Arabic codes I couldn’t read, yet the connection became clear through the process itself. Then, I recalled the يملقسا Quranic verse: " ن وَا مََِْ وَ طَُْرُونَ " (Nūn. By the pen and what theyline out). Some may call these forms "pseudo-Arabic," yet their essence transcends definition. Building on the earlier exploration of tension between forms, the experiments gradually became more free-flowing. When I let go of the structured lining on the canvas and allowed for more fluid movement, sometimes permitting horizontal motion without visibly marking it on the canvas, I instead embodied it through vertical motion with my body and the free movement of my hands. As the line became less rigid, more primal symbols began to emerge.Each symbol arrives as an image but resonates within me as a feeling rather than a language I can explicitly translate. Perhaps their meaning is meant to remain unspoken.My journey continues.