This piece is dedicated to a good friend and eternal sister, Samaneh Sadaghiani.

One day, Samaneh showed our group of friends a photo of her teenage room in the early 90s. On the wall was a poster of an alien surrounded with mushrooms, which she wished she hadn’t parted ways with. Samaneh’s comment inspired Khalid with an idea for a gift. 

It took many hours of research, and a lot more hours to piece together fragmented images of the original poster. Then the newly recreated image took on a life of its own. Layers upon layers of details were altered and added. 

Elements from some of Samaneh’s favourite things were infused into the work, including aesthetics of the Persian Empire and a shared love for Ferangis (and their Rules of Acquisition) from Star Trek.

In collaboration with illustrator Lily Le.

Limited edition of 10.

Hand signed and numbered.
Frame not included.

The 1st belongs to Samaneh - the inspiration behind this work.
The 2nd belongs to Khalid - the artist.

The remaining are available for acquisition by discerning collectors of the art, psilocybin, and Star Trek's artifacts.  

In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Khalid was smuggled on a camel out of the Soviet–Afghan war zone by his ever courageous young mother. After a few brief stops around the world, he arrived in Canada at the age of three. Khalid’s upbringing was loving and arduous, which forged and honed his philosophy, sensibility, and capability. From his earliest memories to the stories his family loves sharing about him, Khalid has always been inquisitive, artistic, and systematic. 

Born and raised into a Muslim family and culture, at some point young Khalid ventured out to learn about other faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Atheism and Star Trek. This spiritual exploration has led him full circle back to Islam. Inspired by Islamic art, Khalid’s most recent artistic work embodies the universal language of math, geometry, singularity, and infinity.    

Khalid continues his journey on Earth as an explorer, artist, designer, learner, teacher, mentor, leader, adviser, speaker, organizer, and many other hats he wears. Outside of work, Khalid loves being with his rambunctious wife Lan and creative children Philo + Sophie. 

Khalid, also known as Kal, Kalatic, and Kaptain to some, is the founder and CEO of Pixel Dreams. 

Religious? No. Spiritual? Yes. In love? Most definitely. 

Islam and the study of it, has been a rewarding journey for this artist, designer, and philosopher.

About this piece ☪︎

The Crescent Star, representing the moon and the sun. As observers, we (Earth) are at the center. A medley of geometric patterns, most based on patterns found in the Islamic world. Inspired by Islamic history, architecture, geometry and pattern-making. 

Background Patterns

• Sun Starbursts: The Great Mosque of Herat, Herat, Afghanistan (1200)
• Earth Starbursts: The Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain (1302)
• Moon Starbursts: Eighth phases of the moon orbiting Earth
• Medium and big Circles: Tilya-Kori Madrasah, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1646)
• Small Circles: The Great Mosque of Kairouan, Kairouan, UTunisia (670)
• Octagrams, based on two squares: Abdullah Khan Madrasah, Bukhara (1598)
• Large octagram shapes, left and right sides: Esrefoglu Mosque, Beysehir, Turkey (1297), at 30° angle

Typography

• Sun: 99 Names of Allah, 1-33
• Earth: 99 Names of Allah, 34-66
• Moon: 99 Names of Allah, 67-99
• Border: In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Photos

• Sun: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
• Earth: The Blue Marble, NASA/Apollo 17 crew, Harrison Schmitt or Ron Evans, Wikipedia.
• Moon: Gregory H. Rivera, Wikipedia/creative commons

Mediums: Vinyl on gatorboard
Dimensions: 48x80”

GOD TRIP - SERIES

From micro atomic to macro galactic.
In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

“Two thirds of all stars in the night sky with names have Arabic names. An homage to their ‘stellar’ navigational skills 1000 years ago, during the Golden Age of Islam.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson 

“The study of astronomy has a rich history within the Islamic tradition, particularly within the so-called ‘Islamic Golden Age’ from the 10th to the 12th century through figures such as Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Farghani, Ibn Al Haytham and Nasir al-Din al-Tulsi to name a few.”

- Faizal Nazir, Space and Islam: What You Didn’t Know

“(God) is the One who has set out for you the stars, that you may guide yourselves by them through the darkness of the land and of the sea. We have detailed the signs for people who know.”

-  Quran 6:97

Lines

Dashed gold lines: Location of of our Sun and solar system in our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Dashed white lines: Earth’s one full orbit around the sun. Moon’s 13 orbits around Earth.

Gold line: Sun moving through space, orbiting Sagittarius A*, Milky Way’s supermassive black hole.

Quick Facts
Moon’s orbital speed: 1.022 km/sec
Earth’s orbital speed: 29.78 km/sec
Sun’s orbital speed: 230 km/sec

You, and our solar system, have travelled approximately 138,000 km in the last 10 minutes, and about 828,000 km in the last hour.

Background Pattern: Lines based on patterns found on the ceilings in Abdullah Khan Madrasah, Bukhara (1598 AD)

Photos
Milky Way: A Roadmap to the Milky Way, Artist Concept, NASA
Sun: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Group Discount
Get all six pieces of GOD TRIP - SERIES for $800 CAD. Add all pieces to the card and an automatic discount will apply at checkout.

GOD TRIP - SERIES

From micro atomic to macro galactic.
In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

“The solar circle usually remains unchanged, symbolizing the Absolute, the source of light, warmth and fertility. In its apparently circular movement around the earth, the sun's path or ecliptic is divided into the twelve houses of the zodiac, which has its origins in ancient times. The practitioner of Islamic geometry is aware of the sun and moon, both as the two primary regulators sustaining biological life and as symbols of eternity and revolving cycles. As such, the 'sun circle' is identified as the parent shape for all figures, with the 'moon crescent representing the division of the circle and analytical stages for enabling the construction of an infinite variety of patterns.

In his book Time Stands Still, Keith Critchlow discusses the concept and meaning of the word ‘origin’ related to the sun and moon: “Similarly the word ‘origin’ is grounded in the early word oriri, to rise as the Sun, hence the link with the east, or orient, and orientation: the direction of the new-born light. ‘Lucid’ (clear, accurate). ‘luminous’ and ‘lunar’ come from the same source…” ”

- Thames & Hudson, Arts & Crafts of the Islamic Lands

Lines

White and red: Waves represent different latitudes at 10° differences. Lines above horizontal gold line represent more daylight, while below represent less daylight. Latitude lines meet at equinoxes. Starting at the left edge of the Sun represents March 21st, center represents September 22, and the right edge, March 21st again, going through one full calendar year. The first set of extremes represents June 21, where the highest curve is 60° latitude, seeing 18 hours of daylight and the lowest curve is -60° latitude experiencing 5.3 hours of sunlight. The second extreme represents Dec 21st where 60° latittitude is now at its lowest, experiencing 6.6 hours of sunlight, and -60° latitude at its highest experiencing 19.5 hours of daylight. Because of Earth's slight tilt, the wave curves are not identical.

Gold and blue: represent the 12 months of the year.

Little Earths

Four Earths represent both the four seasons as well as the equinoxes and solstices. From the top going clockwise: Spring Equinox (March 20), Right: Summer Solstice (June 21), Autumn Equinox (September 22), and finally Winter Solstice (Dec 21). Earth’s 23.44° axial tilt can be seen more clearly at the two Solstices.

Background Pattern: Lines based on patterns found in The Great Mosque of Herat, Afghanistan (1200 AD).

Twelve points around the dodecagram represent the twelve months of the year. In the center, a circle represents the Sun.

Photo: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

Group Discount
Get all six pieces of GOD TRIP - SERIES for $800 CAD. Add all pieces to the card and an automatic discount will apply at checkout.

GOD TRIP - SERIES

From micro atomic to macro galactic.
In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

Travelling from Earth towards the Sun, we arrive at Mercury, the closest planet to our star. The radius of Mercury is 2,439.7 km, and Earth’s is 6,371 km. We see the same ratio in their average orbital distances from the sun, Earth at 149.6M km and Mercury at 108.2M km .

Lines

White: Mercury superimposed on Earth, a perfect pentagon drawn inside of Mercury, the sides extending to a perfect pentagram, each point touching the edge of earth.

Red: Mercury superimposed on Earth, a perfect octagon drawn outside of Mercury, the sides extending to a perfect octagram, each point touching the edge of earth.

Tiny planets in formation

The orbital distances of Mercury (108.2M km average) and Earth (149.6M km average) to the Sun can also be drawn as perfect pentagrams and octograms. We see Earth represented in different views, starting from the top moving clockwise: North Pole, Eastern Hemisphere, South Pole, Western Hemisphere

Background Pattern: Lines based on patterns found in The Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia (AD 670)

Photos

Earth: The Blue Marble, NASA/Apollo 17 crew, Harrison Schmitt or Ron Evans, Wikipedia. 

Mercury: The colorful view of Mercury was produced by using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER's primary mission.

Group Discount
Get all six pieces of GOD TRIP - SERIES for $800 CAD. Add all pieces to the card and an automatic discount will apply at checkout.

GOD TRIP - SERIES

From micro atomic to macro galactic.
In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

“If you draw down the Moon to the Earth, then the circle through the center of the heavenly Moon will have a circumference [almost] equal to the perimeter of a square enclosing the Earth.”

 - John Martineau, A Little Book Of Coincidences In The Solar System

Lines

Blue & white: An almost perfect square

Gold & white: A perfect circle

“Islam emerged in Arabia where travel along the desert trade routes was largely by night, and navigation depended upon the position of the moon and stars. The moon thus represents the guidance of God on the path through life. The new moon also represents the Muslim calendar, which has 12 months each of 29 or 30 days. So in Islam the lunar month and the calendar month coincide, and the new moon is eagerly awaited, especially at the end of the month of Ramadan when its sighting means that the celebrations of 'Id al-Fitr can begin.”

- Linda and Phil Holmes, Cottingham, N Humberside.

Primes

The radius of the Moon (1,737.4 km) to Earth (6,371 km) is 27.27%. 3/11 (both primaries) is also 27.27%. The moon orbits Earth every 27.3 days. This artist’s DOB happens to be 27-03.

Moons

Starting top, moving clockwise: Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter, Waning Crescent, New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous. The Moon orbits 13 times per calendar year.

Background Pattern: Lines based on the eighth phases of the moon orbiting Earth. The moons can be seen as eight light-sand squares.

Photos

Earth: The Blue Marble, NASA/Apollo 17 crew, Harrison Schmitt or Ron Evans, Wikipedia. 

Moon: Gregory H. Rivera, Wikipedia/creative commons

Group Discount
Get all six pieces of GOD TRIP - SERIES for $800 CAD. Add all pieces to the card and an automatic discount will apply at checkout.

GOD TRIP - SERIES

From micro atomic to macro galactic.
In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

“...Spirals and helices are found throughout the natural world, in many forms, at every scale of existence: in spider-webs, galaxies and particle track, in animal horns, sea-shells, plant structures, and DNA. It is clearly one of nature's favorite patterns. Logarithmic (or growth) spirals are the most intriguing and complex of all, particularly the ‘golden’ spiral that is associated with the Fibonacci series. Logarithmic spirals in general have the property of self-similarity, i.e., of looking the same at every scale.”

- David Wade, Symmetry The Ordering Principle

Lines

Gold: Fibonacci Golden Ratio

White: Infinite Spiral

Background Pattern: Lines based on patterns found in The Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain (1302).

Photo: Low off Iceland, Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Group Discount
Get all six pieces of GOD TRIP - SERIES for $800 CAD. Add all pieces to the card and an automatic discount will apply at checkout.

GOD TRIP - SERIES

From micro atomic to macro galactic.
In collaboration with Lannie Lê, Business & Life Partner

“Water as God’s blessing. Water as miracle. Water creating oases. Water as reward. Water as the instrument of ritual cleansings. Water as the condition of happiness. Water as heaven.” 

- Gary Wills, What the Qur’an Mean

“Adam (Arabic: آدم, Adam) is believed to have been the first human being on Earth and the first prophet (Arabic: نبي, nabī) of Islam.[1] Adam's role as the father of the human race is looked upon by Muslims with reverence. Muslims also refer to his wife, Hawā (Arabic: حواء, Eve), as the ‘mother of mankind’.[2]”

- 1. Lalljee, compiled by Yousuf N, Know Your Islam

- 2. Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, Wheeler, Adam and Eve

Water molecules are made up of H20, Two hydrogen atoms (H), bonded to one oxygen (O) atom.

Lines
Gold: Oxygen electrons
Turquoise: Hydrogen electrons
Red & White: Atomic Nucleus
Red: Protons
White: Neutrons

Background Pattern: Lines based on patterns found in Tilya-Kori Madrasah, Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1646)

Group Discount
Get all six pieces of GOD TRIP - SERIES for $800 CAD. Add all pieces to the card and an automatic discount will apply at checkout.