Journey by the Water

This series takes as a starting point the early-medieval Turkic myth of Korkut, considered to be the first shaman (baqsi). Korkut travelled the world in search of a land without death. When he could not find such a place, he returned to his birthplace by the Syr River in Central Asia. There, he spread a carpet in the middle of the river and played music while sitting on it. In doing so, Korkut achieved immortality.

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In the series, I aimed to explore the border between ornament and landscape. I rethink landscape painting in a non-perspectival way that resists the Western gaze. By creating half-abstract images (or almost turning them into an ornament), I pay tribute to the Central Asian carpet-making tradition. At the same time, each image maintains the connection between water and the body and mind, reflecting and mirroring one another.