Reza Derakshani (Iranian, b. 1952)

Drawing inspiration from the immense and mystical world of Persian poetry and music, Derakshani's paintings have been described as visual music, with colour, sound and poetry transmuted into shadow and light. Trees are a recurrent theme in Derakshani's work. They connect one to nature, a living phenomenon, which at times resemble human figures. The Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of the Universe reveal the long iconographic history in ancient Persian culture. With their roots deep in the Earth, a tree comes back to life from death. In Persian mythology the Tree of Life is at the centre of heaven and guarded by a lion and a wild goat. A fig tree is the most sacred, whilst a pomegranate tree represents passion and fertility. In the present work, the fig tree is represented, both in the light of day and in the darkness of night, with the metaphorical and dualistic associations thus rendered.