Silent Echoes

در نمد نتوان نهفت آیینه‌ی اقبالِ مرد
زیر مو هرچند پنهان است، پنهان نیست سر
بیدل دهلوی–

A mirror reflecting one’s destiny cannot be hidden beneath felt
Though concealed beneath the hair, the head remains revealed

— Bīdel Dehlavi (1642–1720), Persian poet of the Indian subcontinent

Silent Echoes was exhibited during my residency at Art Omi in the historic barn space. The installation invited visitors into a sacred chamber of reflection, where materials, shadows, and stillness spoke quietly of the unseen.

Inspired by Bidel Dehlavi’s mystical poetry, the work weaves together threads of wool and fragments of mirror, each shard a silent echo of our shared divinity. A broken spinning wheel, drawn by wool thread and anchored by stone, alludes to cycles of memory and disruption. Mirrors, partially embedded in felt, reflect only fragments of the self. Shattered mirrors emerge from the wall, their sharp edges lit with shadow and light, mirroring the fractured beauty of our interconnected selves.

During the exhibition, I created an intimate performance and ritual. Audience members were invited to enter the space one by one. They touched wool, dropped a stone into water, gazed into veiled mirrors, and whispered intentions into silence. Each participant became part of the reflective experience.

Here, wool is hair, thread is destiny, and the mirror is the heart. Each speaks in silence, reminding us that we are but facets of a single divine reflection.