Long before Narges Mansouri knew where art would take her, she was already drawn to colour and form. As a child, she would walk along the river choosing stones for their colours, shapes, or simply something distinctive she saw in them — small moments she would later recognise as the beginnings of a lifelong relationship with art.
Her formal journey began with calligraphy, followed by illumination, which she initially learned so she could illuminate her own calligraphic works. What began as a companion to calligraphy soon became a major artistic practice in its own right. Over the years, she exhibited her work, illuminated pieces by accomplished calligraphers, and taught illumination to both adults and children. In 2009, her work received First Place for Illumination at Iran’s 3rd National Art Schools Festival.With time, Narges began to see illumination beyond its traditional place on paper, exploring its language of pattern and ornament across canvas, fabric, clothing, and other surfaces.
Narges Mansouri
Woodcarving later extended that exploration into physical form.
After more than two decades of artistic practice, she sees tradition not as something fixed in the past, but as something that can retain its integrity while finding new expressions and contexts.
Now continuing her artistic practice in Canada, Narges believes that the artistic traditions she brings with her and the culture in which she now lives can enrich one another.
Three Traditional Arts for Contemporary Life
Rooted in centuries of Iranian artistic tradition, illumination, calligraphy, and woodcarving have each developed distinctive languages of line, pattern, ornament, and form. Outstanding examples of these traditions are preserved today in major museum collections around the world, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre.
Illumination
Illumination is the intricate art of creating ornamental compositions through pattern, geometry, colour, and the delicate use of gold. Historically associated with manuscripts and calligraphic works, it is shaped by precision, rhythm, and an extraordinary attention to detail.
For Narges, illumination has grown from a companion to calligraphy into a language of its own — one she continues to explore beyond paper, across different surfaces, forms, and contemporary settings.
Calligraphy
Calligraphy was the beginning of Narges’s formal artistic journey. In Iranian art, the written word has long extended beyond communication to become a visual art in itself, where proportion, movement, rhythm, and composition give language a physical beauty.
Narges’s study of calligraphy eventually led her to illumination, beginning a relationship between the two disciplines that has continued throughout her artistic practice.
Woodcarving
Woodcarving brought this exploration into another dimension. As Narges began looking beyond paper for new ways to express the patterns and forms of illumination, wood became another medium through which ornament could acquire depth, texture, shadow, and a tactile presence.
Her practice in woodcarving extends this ongoing exploration - allowing traditional forms to take on a physical presence within objects, interiors, and contemporary spaces.