1 – Expectations of Kin
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
50×70 cm
This piece is about how expectations are set about kids even before they were born. The color red symbolizes the blood of kin but also the power people have over an embryo. The baby drawing has dimension whereas the faces of people fall flat to point out that it is the child who will be making the decisions no matter who his or her kinship includes. The façades are inspired by the illustrations of Persepolis while the embryo is based on Leonardo da Vinci’s “Study of the Fetus in the Womb”.
2- What You See of Me
Digital photography (print)
28×42 cm
The work is a critique of how different the way women are viewed and they are is. The camera can be seen as the eye of the beholder, looking to view what it wants to see. The layered photographs show the different sides of the same person and the monstrous layering of the photographs imply that the image someone has in the beholder’s mind can be disrupted if the sides of a person is seen as two different entities. The composition of the piece was initially inspired by Beksiński’s “Horn Player”.
3- The Socially Acceptable Addiction
Acrylic on canvas, coffee beans
100x 100cm
This work is inspired by how caffeine addiction is too commercialized to be seen as a real problem. In today’s society, people’s worth are rewarded to them by how much they are willing to harm themselves in the name of productivity. The coffee beans are glued on the canvas to imitate pills so that it is comparable to other addictive substances. The composition of the piece is based on Beksiński’s “Confession”. The colors of the subject are chosen to be reminiscent of coffee.
4- The Death of Major Tom
Pen and watercolor on paper
28×42 cm
The work is inspired by a song by David Bowie called “Space Oddity” which follows the astronaut Major Tom’s thoughts slowly drifting to its death in space. The helmet of the astronaut is drawn like and eye with a world pupil because his memories on Earth are what he recalls even as he is dying. The space is painted inside him as he is slowly starting to become one with the nothing and his memories are what fills the skies as a symbol of what was tying Major Tom to his humanity.
5 – The Sleep of Ignorance
Watercolor and colored pencil on paper
25×35 cm
The work is about the bliss acceptance of the problems in our lives gives us, and how it does not make the problem disappear. The style of the piece is based on kid’s book illustrations in an attempt to condemn how deeply rooted propaganda is in every nook of the media while The technique of layering of watercolor and colored pencils are inspired by Chris Hong’s illustrations and the color selection of the watercolor wash is based on Joe Sorren’s artworks.
6 – The Rotting Routine
Digital (print)
40×70 cm
The preliminary inspiration for this piece is Portinori’s “Migrants” and “Weeping Woman” by Picasso. This piece displays the routine life of a young woman as well as her life story drawn out for her. The spirals symbolizes living a life that is already decided for her and not being able to see it happening in your life. In the piece, while living in a routine is characterized with sharp shapes, the real personality of the woman can be seen through the real waves and curls on her hair. The baby’s hair connects with the tie’s spiral, which shows how inevitable the “spirals” are.
7 –The Screaming Life
Linocut on real leaves installed with a branch and flowerpot
30×40 cm
The linocut print design is heavily inspired by Edward Munch’s “The Scream” and the animal cells. The piece is about the realization that everything is made up of living things. At our core, we are all thousands of cells; therefore, none of us superior to one another. The work is also inspired by the fact that plants scream when you cut them, so I wanted to make a piece about how another living organism would react to being hurt if it could interact with us like humans do.