The seven pieces making up this series were inspired by Fariduddin Attar’s mystic poem Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds), in which a myriad birds of all kinds set out together to find their King, a quest that takes them across seven valleys symbolising stages on the mystical journey.
To represent these concepts, I designed a bold script that is reflected to evoke valleys in an abstract way: the resulting forms are strong and alien, like totemic sculptures from an unknown culture. They each stand on a pedestals formed by their own initial Alif. The birds of the quest are present in the many feathers* I carefully assembled to create the different colours and textures. The palette is both constrained and enhanced by this unusual material, as many of the feathers display unexpected iridescence when touched by sunlight.
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*All of the feathers are ethically sourced: either naturally moulted (parrots and ducks) or taken from birds that were hunted or culled (pheasants and crows). No bords were plucked live or killed for their feathers. I only source from individuals who can offer this guarantee, and I gathered many of the feathers (magpie and woodpigeon) myself, from my own garden and nearby fields. Most of the parrot feathers were gifted to me, many years ago, by someone who worked in a pet shop cleaning the bird cages. All were disinfected and washed before use.