The Literature Box, 2021

30×30

Acrylics

Within the bounds of this canvas, a vivid tableau of acrylics brings to life a complex allegory drawn from the depths of Persian lore. Each stroke and hue unveils a story, a character, an emblem of the age-old dance between creation and censorship, between the storyteller’s imagination and the harsh pen of control.

Interwoven into the fabric of this piece are the hands of two writers, one open in the act of composition, the other in a gesture of concealment. They are the dual forces of creation and protection, the keepers of stories that bear the weight of history and the sting of suppression. The ‘controller’—a figure composed of disjointed body parts—looms over, representing the omnipresent oversight that threatens the very act of writing with dire consequences.

In the most poignant of metaphors, the artist’s own blood is imagined as the ultimate ink, a testament to the sacrifices made in the pursuit of expression and truth. It is a bold statement on the peril that writers face in their quest to chronicle reality: the risk of arrest, the shadow of mortality, yet still they persist.

This painting is a salute to the undying spirit of storytelling and a somber reflection on the costs of such bravery. It celebrates the subversive act of writing under duress, the clever disguises that protect forbidden tales, and the enduring power of the written word to challenge, to change, and to outlive its creators.

Includes symbols and characters from old Persian stories, two writers’ hands, the controller body parts and the artists’ blood as the ultimate ink. It states how everything written is controlled and can cause the writers to be arrested or killed. One of the writers is trying to conceal this fact to keep the freedom and ability to write alive.