In this painting, angelic presences guide and protect the birds as they fly through the Valley of Serenity, the fourth stage of their journey. I have used shell gold and palladium shell to represent the shimmering light of angels encompassing my flock. In Islamic culture there is a belief that each person is surrounded by their own host of angelic presences who guide and protect us through life. When contemplating the composition for this painting, I imagined intricate gilded patterns encircling each bird in flight. Geometry is thought by many to be a sacred language. It exists in every culture, every time and place, and underpins the structure of the universe from the orbits of the planets to the tiniest flower. A conversation with a fellow artist inspired the idea that angelic presences manifest themselves through geometric forms. This resonated very strongly with me. I believe that geometry is a sacred language, and practicing it in the correct spirit is a way of reflecting Divine beauty on Earth. After our conversation, I knew what the intricate gilded pattens from my imagination wanted to be: radiant angels surrounding the birds as they journey through the Valley of Serenity.

This series of paintings is inspired by Attar’s medieval Persian epic poem, ‘The Conference of the Birds’. In the poem the birds of the world embark on a quest to find their King, the mysterious Simurgh, similar to the Phoenix in Western mythology. The entire story is a metaphor for the human soul’s longing for the Divine, with the Simurgh representing God, and the birds symbolising mankind with all our human frailties. On their journey, the birds fly though seven valleys, each representing a spiritual station on their path: the Valley of the Quest, Insight, Love, Serenity and Detachment, Unity, Awe and Bewilderment, and the Valley of Nothingness.

Ayesha Gamiet, Spring 2024