Koochaki was born in an old rice-growing region and began helping his parents on leased fields at age 7. When he was 13, he left his native village for Tehran in search of a better life. He learned to be a car mechanic, opened his own repair shop, and started a family. He began drawing in his forties, just for fun. During his retirement, drawing became his main activity. “I try to draw pretty things, but this is what I come up with,” he liked to joke. “Maybe it is somehow related to my turbulent past.” Since he exclusively worked with graphite and color pencils, people called him “the Pencil Man.” His drawings resemble hybrid beings — half man, half woman — fantastic animals, or demigods, which he often shrouds in something like veils or netting.
KOOCHAKI davood
