Since we were living in Uzbekistan from 2004-2006 I am fascinated by the lines that create the geometric patterns in the tiles of ancient islamic art on the mosques and schools.

In January this year I visited Samarqand and Buchara again. The trip started with some snow flakes, but then the weather evolved into a beautiful blue spring sky.

About Islamic Patterns: “Islamic decoration makes great use of geometric shapes, which have developed over centuries. These patterns of Islamic art are often said to arise from the Islamic view of the world, which is the central concept of Tawhid, or Divine Unity. To Muslims these forms, taken together, constitute an infinite pattern that extends beyond the visible material world. They concretely symbolize uncentralized nature of the creation of Allah and therefore in their use of patterns, Islamic artists are in part expressing the fathomless of Got – not just that God is everywhere, but that God is unknowable. In this sense, pattern can be used as a meditative tool.” source: Backhouse, Tim”Only God is Perfect”. Islamic and Geometric Art, http://www.geometricdesign.co.uk/

In Turkey I found these patterns again and used some of them for my mosaic designs.

Coming back to Beijing from Uzbekistan in early February, I was devastated, that I could not open my studio, due to the coronary virus outbreak in China. We had to be under home quarantine and congregating in larger groups was and still is not allowed.

So I took a ruler and compass and with the help of only these instruments and the instructions of the book “Islamic Geometric Design” I immersed into the world of lines – forming patterns, making peace with the chaos around me …