the cloud bank stacked until infinity:heaven
above which the sun still shone
high and bright and yellow
red blue green and purple
— all at once making light,
all at once making this day:now
red tiles on the roof above my head
like hardened waves held still as a selection of atoms
and the space between them pressed by unseen forces
soak the sunrays through the pores of their skin
much like mine do
and yours —
yours and mine, made from the same
as the tiles and the clouds and in places, the sun
from outer:in
from all:us
from you:me
Shirin Abedinirad, Collective Reflection, 2022. Installation, Trabzon, Türkiye. Presented in a solo exhibition at Trabzon Girls Monastery and curated by Ayça Okay, the work draws on Rumi’s mirror imagery — “You are a volume in a divine book / A mirror to the power that created the universe / whatever you’re looking for can only be found / inside of you” — to bring the sky down to earth. Using reflection, symmetry, and light, the installation invites viewers into a transformative encounter with inner beauty, self-knowledge, and the spiritual possibility of looking beyond one’s limits. Artwork courtesy of featured artist Shirin Abedinirad.
