Hope Tree

Hope Tree is an ongoing series rooted in Hadieh’s relationship with trees as symbols of connection, memory, resilience, and hope. Wherever Hadieh goes, she seeks out the trees of that landscape, living forms that root her to the land and offer a way of sensing its history, including what existed and unfolded there before her arrival. Trees become silent witnesses to human existence, observing generations arrive, live, disappear, and leave traces behind. In this sense, they hold a relationship to time that extends beyond an individual life, connecting the present to the layers of history embedded within a place.

The series is also informed by a cultural tradition of tying pieces of worn clothing to trees while making wishes, placing hope in the tree’s profound connection to the earth and the universe. This ritual has shaped her understanding of the tree as both a grounding presence and a carrier of hope. During periods of uncertainty or darkness, Hadieh returns to drawing and painting trees to reconnect with that sense of possibility and continuity. Although the trees transform visually according to the materials, processes, and circumstances of each work, their underlying meaning remains constant: a search for rootedness, connection, resilience, and hope.