Hadieh Shafie, a Tehran born artist based in Brooklyn and Baltimore, constructs intricate designs with low-relief paper sculpture.

Many of her works are comprise of tightly coiled strips of brightly colored paper bearing calligraphy, arranged in patterns.Shafie described them as “part sculpture, part drawing, part artist’s book.”In works comprised of paper scrolls, Shafie creates individual strips of paper that are marked with the word “eshghe,” both hand-written and printed in Farsi.

While the most direct translation of “eshghe” to English is “love,” its expressive power is “passion.” Shafie chose this word because it encompasses her longing and search for acceptance and understanding.

Writing by hand on strips of paper, Shafie repeats what is printed, filling in gaps to emphasize a particular, existing form.

As Shafie rolls the paper, the colors on the edges of the strips align, creating bands of alternating hue that stand along side one another, while at once, seeming to merge into new color formations which are often delightful surprises.

During the repetitive process of adding paper strips to create individual scrolls, text and symbols are hidden within these concentric rings of material as the scroll grows outward.

The results are mesmerizing, detailed, colorful representations of Shafie’s passions.

More of Hadieh Shafie’s inspirational and amazing art can be found at https://www.hadiehshafie.com/.