Meet our کورسو KOORSOO illustrator: Hoda Ramy
Each month, CreativeMornings has a different theme for the talks given at our local chapter events around the world. It is our tradition to work with an artist in our community to create an illustration for each monthly theme.
Our theme for January is کورسو (KOORSOO). It was chosen by our Tehran chapter in Iran, and illustrated by Hoda Ramy.
Hoda Ramy is an award-winning animation director, art director, and educator based in New York City. Her work centers on 2D animation, motion design, and visual storytelling, often exploring memory, identity, and emotional experience. She teaches design and animation at CUNY City Tech and Pratt Institute and has collaborated with nonprofits, cultural institutions, and global creative teams.
Hoda shared the following reflection on her illustration for this month’s theme:
“Koorsoo is a Persian word meaning a glimmer of light, an expression used in moments of deep desperation, when hope feels nearly lost and something unexpected appears. Often paired with Omid (hope), koorsoo-ye-omid describes the instant when darkness briefly opens and light reveals a way forward. I experience words visually, forming images as I hear them, and I imagine this glimmer emerging from somewhere deep and hidden. In this illustration, the cave becomes a symbol of the unknown—of endurance, exploration, and the long passage through uncertainty—followed by the light of day after an exhausting journey. Inspired by my childhood love of science fiction, particularly Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, and by my experience as a woman navigating the inner landscapes of the body, this piece reflects hope as something fragile, distant, yet profoundly transformative.”
Listen to how to pronounce Hoda’s name.
You can see more of Hoda’s work on her site and follow her on Instagram @hodaillustrations.
Selected Works
