SALAR AHMADIAN

Salar Ahmadian draws on a wealth of resources with a boundless capacity for versatility and self-expression. He is a painter, sculptor, designer, calligrapher and goldsmith.

Persian miniature art is blended with Magritte-style surrealism and modernised calligraphy, turning letters of the alphabet into shapes dripping with meaning. Working with oils, Ahmadian uses an array of brilliant colours in a manner that he says is similar to that of 19th-century European Impressionist artists.

A common theme is conveyed through the depiction of the pomegranate, which symbolises his hometown, and the flower, which is painted as valuable pieces of jewellery made up of diamonds, emeralds and rubies.