Beauty and character

"If you look at her work and mine, it's very sensual, very rounded. Everything is very natural. It's very 'Middle East'," she says. "I think part of it has to do with (the fact that) that is our Middle Eastern background, because this is how we were raised, you know, with sensuality and beautiful images and the refinement of character…"

Hadid has written in the foreword, "Contemporary architecture is striving to emulate nature and imbue the discipline with the intricate beauty of natural forms … We see an order, a logical, lawful differentiation of structures with the elegance of coherence."

Issa-Khan's "characteristic photography continues to inspire, igniting that deepest of connections we all experience with the beauty and intricacy of natural forms. … Iran's motifs of choice-flowers, shells and corals-are among my own inspirational sources of artistic creation", Hadid has written.

"The formal arrangement of petals, stems and branches, and the structural integrity of shells and cocoons provide a timeless reference for my repertoire, evoking a rich and varied architectural language with the inherent capacity for complex spatial programming."

As an artist, Issa-Khan says she is never satisfied with her work. "You think you can always do better, and it is never enough. You need to push and push and push. As an artist, when you think that you are the best, it is time for you to stop. You should always think that tomorrow something new and better is going to happen," she says.

"Right now, I'm doing nature shots, but tomorrow, I don't know what I'm going to work on. That's the most exciting thing about being an artist," she signs off with a smile.