Celestial Visitors

Celestial Visitors imagines a moment of cosmic arrival—an encounter between the earthly and the divine, the known and the unknowable. In this painting, two abstract bird-like figures float in an ethereal space: one shaped like a meteorite, dense and ancient, and the other adorned with an astronaut’s helmet, both strange and strangely familiar. Though abstract in form, these birds are not creatures of instinct alone—they are, to me, angels.

The concept of angels has long existed in both Persian and global traditions, often depicted as messengers between realms, intermediaries between humanity and the divine. Here, I cast my angels as wanderers in the void, travelers not through religious heavens but through the deep unknown of space—celestial beings carrying messages from beyond our material world. They are not fearful or fearsome. They are curious, patient, and otherworldly. Their presence is meant to inspire wonder, not dread.

Around them bloom alien flora—plant forms that suggest a sacred ecosystem, a landscape born of myth, dream, or other dimensions. The faint image of a child reaching out to the helmeted bird hints at humanity’s perennial longing for connection with what lies beyond: the unseen, the spiritual, the magical. The child, blurry and almost ghostlike, represents both innocence and the ancient impulse to touch the infinite.

This painting draws from themes common in Persian miniature painting, especially the Bird-and-Flower tradition, while embracing the aesthetics of science fiction and speculative mysticism. The birds are abstract, yet carry with them symbolic weight—they are signs, omens, carriers of something sacred but unspoken.

With Celestial Visitors, I wanted to ask: what would it look like if angels arrived from the stars? How would they appear to us—as threats, saviors, or quiet witnesses? This work invites the viewer to consider the spiritual within the extraterrestrial, the divine within the abstract, and the possibility that our myths may yet be written in the language of the cosmos.

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Zahra Zoghi (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Tehran with over 30 years of experience. Her work has appeared on the covers of Assignment Literary Magazine, LETTERS Journal and Making Waves: A West Michigan Review, as well as in Stoneboat Literary Journal, Welter (University of Baltimore), Ignatian Literary Magazine, Midway Journal and Levitate Magazine.

Holding a Master’s degree in Art Research, she has taught many students and exhibited her work worldwide. Passionate about bridging art heritage with contemporary expression, she reimagines traditional techniques for today’s world.