The Fragile Equation

The Fragile Equation

This work is rooted in a quatrain by Omar Khayyam reflecting on the impermanence of existence and the uncertain boundary between being and non-being. I imagine a world where what exists could become absent, while what does not exist might become present through imagination. The figures move between presence and disappearance, suggesting that existence is not always fixed, but fragile and constantly changing.

The intense colours and dense material surfaces create a tension between vitality and disappearance. Khayyam’s mathematical equations surround the figures, while Persian poetry and English text bring together different languages of thought. I wanted to evoke Khayyam’s mind as a space where mathematical reasoning, poetry, and philosophy could exist together, while the human figure remains at the centre of an emotional question about mortality, meaning, and what it means to be alive.