Ongoing Project

Carnation, Incarnation, Reincarnation” discusses the empowerment of women and women’s relation to water. In this work women are not an object, they are not under the patriarchal gawp of men, women vessels are the ones who are gazing at the viewer. Women vessels having exposed breasts and genitals sit in a water tank. The sculptures are filled with red liquid. During the performance, I release the cap of those sculptures. Red liquid filling the statuettes rises and the activated sculptures reincarnate, their spririts are awakened.

The work uses symbolic language: The tank filled with water represents the amniotic fluid that nurtures and protects. The red carnation is a flower to show one’s grief in Turkey. When someone passes away, people leave red carnations on the graves. According to Christian legends, when Jesus carried the Cross, Virgin Mary started crying, and as her teardrops fell on the ground, carnations sprang. Carnation is about suffering and death, and incarnation and reincarnation are about the empowerment, the rebirth of women. As the statuettes bleed, they start breathing too. In their static position, they suddenly start showing vitality surrounded by the supporting amniotic fluid.

In this ritualistic, spiritual installation, my aim is to pay tribute to motherhood and revitalize the idea of women's empowerment in today’s patriarchal world. Most importantly with the various body forms, I address the idea of beauty that could be in every shape and form.