Biography

JOHN ROMI, FRSA

Founder of Cuneiformism

John Romi is a Swedish-American artist and structural theorist whose practice bridges the origins of human record-keeping with the systemic logic of contemporary architecture. Holding a Master of Science in Engineering, Computer Science, and Graphic Arts from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Romi approaches the canvas not merely as a surface, but as a site of generative structural code.

He is the founder of Cuneiformism—a movement recently codified by Dr. Hanna Fatuhi, PhD, as the first modern style to formalize the world's oldest data-transfer systems into a 21st-century visual language.

Drawing deeply from the visual logic of Sumerian and Akkadian scripts, Romi deconstructs the cuneiform mark—the earliest known system of human communication—and rebuilds it using rhythmic, repeating planes he terms "Data-Bricks." He reimagines these ancient systems not as static historical artifacts, but as dynamic architectures. His canvases layer heavy, glyphic structures over stark spatial fields, transforming archaic forms into precise geometric rhythms.

Constructed with deliberate texture, aggressive palette knife techniques, and strict spatial logic, Romi’s practice—which he terms Emotional Architecture—explores how the weight of human history and ancient data can be manifested through intense physical materiality. The resulting works possess an immense physical and conceptual gravity, demanding that the viewer confront the structural origins of civilization.

Operating at the intersection of deep antiquity and systemic engineering, Romi’s codification of Cuneiformism is currently generating significant institutional engagement. His translation of the archival mark into contemporary structural language has opened active dialogues with the Ancient Western Asian department at The Morgan Library & Museum, and his conceptual framework has been acknowledged by the Director’s Office at the Tate.

Romi is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Education

• 2022 - Art Business, Sotheby's Institute of Art
• 2003 - Masters of Science in Engineering, Computer Science, Graphic Arts and Multimedia. The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA)
  
  

Selected Institutional & Academic Dialogues:

• 2025 - The Morgan Library & Museum (Ancient Western Asian Department) - Archival Dialogue
• 2025 - The Tate Director’s Office - Design & Institutional Acknowledgment
• 2024 - Cuneiformism Codified by Dr. Hanna Fatuhi, PhD