Iranian, Fatemeh Kouhkan was born September 21, 1972 in the city of Tabriz. A self-taught artist, painter, sculptor, and number researcher, she has a deep love and appreciation for history and geometry.

Fatemeh has held two solo exhibitions of sculpture and a number of group exhibitions of paintings, as well as created a few urban sculptures in the city of Urmia. With twenty years teaching experience in the field of creative arts, Fatemeh grew intrigued with the relationship between numbers and historical symbols. She studied these for many years, and now desires to publish her findings on the relationship between numbers and the mandala in Nazca – the geographical lines, in a book and documentary film.

I wrote to Fatemeh to ask her further questions, as I also have a great interest in numbers and sacred geometry.

When you say ‘historical symbols’ can you give us some examples? Are you referring to monuments like the pyramids of Egypt? Or are you referring to symbols of the sun, eagle, serpent, Celtic cross and such?

My research first began with the study of numbers, and later I came to the conclusion that shapes and even symbols refer directly to the arrangement of numbers. They may be a kind of concealment of the secrets of numbers. They hid what was special; but I know the arrangement of the numbers inside them produces a special force that gives them gravity and power.

One of the symbols of the great civilizations is the pyramids of Egypt, which the place of discovery is the most important symbol of the world, the flower of life. The flower of life has one of the most complex numerical systems that works by its own law. In fact, the flower of life is a comprehensive and fundamental pattern for all symbols.

For example, the symbols yin and yang, the hexagonal star, the five-pointed star, the number expansion pattern, the golden ratio adjustment system, the Ouroboros snake, the number rotation system, and many other important symbols are based on the function of the flower of life.

But some other symbols are set only according to their intrinsic relation of numbers.

Such as swastika, sun star, mandala pattern, various geometric patterns, Celtic cross, different types of numbers, etc. In my first article, I have fully explained how they are formed.

If you could share a little about what prevents you from printing your findings in your country, this will highlight a key point.

In my country, from a scientific point of view, there is no place to raise such issues. In the academies and colleges of my country, there is no ground for receiving these topics and they consider them worthless. Also, from a religious point of view, the content of these topics is unacceptable for the government of my country, and is even considered anti-religious.

Can you foresee the secrets that are revealed in your research may make the world a better place? Perhaps more equal? Or will it provide the mathematical rules for people to create fresh ideas from these original teachings… again, with the potential to help our planet and its people?

Yes. At the moment I cannot predict the feedback of the research results. What is important is my approach to expressing the behaviour of numbers may affect the equations that have already been done and create fresh challenges. But I hope that by expressing this method, a new world will be created for us in terms of attitude. The importance of studying symbols, and many ideas will be formed in the shadow of this research, so we can understand the origin of civilizations and their way of thinking. It can bring us new methods of explanation and thought to our world today.

What inspired you to become a self-taught artist? Was it from your childhood?

Fortunately, I was born into an artist family. My kind father was a carpet merchant and I grew up with beautiful and mysterious Iranian geometric patterns and motifs. Our house was always full of Islamic maps and mandalas. I have been painting without a coach since I was five years old. In my childhood, the educational system of the country did not care much about art and painting hours were boring for me because what I was taught I had done before. With the same childish mind I came to the conclusion that to learn more I had to work with myself. When I was in school, I always gave priority to painting, so I had to finish the painting part of the day before I could do my school lessons.

What I was looking for was not taught in any of the public or private colleges. Why should Roman author, architect, civil and military engineer (during the 1st century BC) Vitruvius be enclosed in a square and circle? What secrets did Da Vinci hide behind Mona Lisa? Why does nature follow the Fibonacci pattern? Why are the pyramids of Egypt so mysterious? I had found my way and I was looking for excitement and riddle in art, and even with all the problems in this direction, I was able to continue the art in my own way until today.

Can you share what it’s like to be born in your country… what it means to you… what are the benefits to living where you do? Have you travelled outside your country?

I’ve never had the experience of traveling abroad. I do love to travel and see historical monuments, but financial constraints prevent this.

I have a very good personal life and feel very happy with my husband – I thank God for this.

Living in my country is not easy for someone who thinks differently, and when I cannot share my mental data with anyone. It’s hard but I still love my country, and enjoy living here.

I am looking for my own interests and desires and I do not care that in my country it is forbidden to deal with the subject of symbols. No research is done in any research institute, or the submission and publication of such articles is a crime, and no publication publishes it.

In fact, in my country, symbols have no value, and anyone who researches them has done an unprincipled job. I cannot print my posts, but I have been working on it for years. Now I think it is time to share some of my research work with the world, and then I think I have done my job properly.

The question for me was why, with all these advances in physics and mathematics, the world has not yet been able to decipher the old symbols or come up with an idea of how their systems work?

Considering your years of study examining the relationship between numbers and historical symbols, did you do this research in your spare time while you were working on other things? Or was this full-time study?

The economic situation here is very difficult for me and my husband, who is a literary writer. In Iran, art and literature are of little value, so we spend most of our time teaching. We work hard but we do not get enough money for our work. Even people do not have enough money or the desire to buy works of art.

I have been studying the relationship between shapes and numbers for more than 9 years and I did it in my spare time because I had to work at the same time.

Since 2017, I have given up my artwork and spent all my time researching the relationships between numbers because I loved it and knew of its importance.

During this time, sometimes a strong force accompanied me to stay up until the morning and carry out my research, and I never regret it. I am proud of it.

What drew you to this study? Was it the artistic work you were doing at the time? Were there any family influences?

There are many things that have helped me reach this particular situation, and of course artwork and family were one of them.

The question for me was why, with all these advances in physics and mathematics, the world has not yet been able to decipher the old symbols or come up with an idea of how their systems work?

The point is, we have forgotten the importance of the relationship between numbers, while in ancient civilizations numbers were important and valuable. Numbers were considered sacred and energetic, and the creation of the universe depended on the behavior of numbers within atoms. If researchers know that the most fundamental particles in the universe may follow the laws of numbers, they will make knowing about it a priority.

There is a sentence by Leonardo da Vinci that says:

“No human investigation can be called real knowledge if it does not pass through mathematical demonstrations…]”

This sentence is very valuable to me. How does one write art mathematically? Art always has puzzles for those who are interested, and I was interested in these puzzles. There is the Vitruvius Man, the Last Supper board, Fibo Nachi curve, penrose triangle and many other puzzles that I wanted to know more about and of course my deep desire to know was my first motivation for dealing with numbers.

What does it mean for you to see your research in print and on the screen for the world to see? Will this improve your life (living arrangements, quality of life, opportunities)?

Some sciences would never have progressed if they had not shared them with the world. I would like the right people to continue my research and expand it to discover more details.

Without any financial support and in the most difficult conditions of my life, I did not give up my research. Even my computer graphics system was not advanced enough to be able to design my findings in 3D or translate my article.

I’m not saying I did a great job; I learned the sea of science and art has no end. I want to share my excitement from the results of my research with number enthusiasts and make them happy. I hope this will be a good opportunity for me to complete my research work and carry it out in a more professional environment, and with better equipment.