The ‘Anticipation’ series is another multilayered body of work that uses powerful symbolism to subtly convey strong messages that may be difficult for some people to digest. Designed for exhibition, it is a narrative series containing six pieces, each with an independent story that together narrates a journey from one place to another. The series itself contains symbols that are independent of each work. An example of that is the number of the pieces in the collection.
“Haft”,the Iranian name for the number seven, is important both traditionally and in current pop-culture. In nations with Indo-European background, the number seven has been revered as a mystic device denoting periodicity, completeness, and spiritual and mundane concepts. Haft, or seven, often ‘conveys the ideas of perfection and periodicity’. In the ‘Anticipation’ series,I have addressed this point satirically and indirectly. By producing six pieces,I have created an unfinished and imperfect story.The story is incomplete: there is one piece missing. The series starts with a group of people who are leaving their homeland and the sixth piece of this collection is The Detention Centre. In other words, release from the detention centre would be the subject of the seventh piece, completing the story.
This is an example of symbolism in the form of the artwork, something I have employed in making medallions, books and other ironic choice of media and delivery.In the Anticipation series, the fish is a constant element. In my culture, the fish is the symbol of freedom and fertility. In addition, the fish has the meaning of mobility. It can travel through the seven seas and has no boundaries. Moreover, the fish conjures up the story of Jonah and the fish which exists in all Abrahamic religions. Jonah left the people of Nineveh and was eaten by a big fish (whale) while on his journey. Jonah’s story is the story of a displaced person.