Parallel Actions
"February 28" marks a tumultuous period in Turkey's history, characterized by the visible discrimination faced by headscarved women. Initially hesitant to participate in an exhibition centered on this painful epoch, I ultimately chose to contribute, recognizing that commemorating these events would prove cathartic for me. Consequently, I created three distinct works for the exhibition, one of which is entitled "Parallel Actions."
"Parallel Actions" comprises seven plexiglass panels—six physical and one hypothetical. One panel features a woman gazing at the viewer, while the remaining panels display male and female hands. The intentions behind these hands—whether aggressive, protective, or supportive—are left to the viewer's interpretation. The hypothetical seventh panel represents the spectator themselves.
The viewer's perspective on the artwork unveils the myriad ways in which people perceive the events of February 28. When observing the piece from the side featuring the woman, the viewer sees a woman who has distanced herself from all the hands, free from both violence and adulation. From a 180-degree shift in perspective, the image transforms into a projection of a woman whose visibility is obscured by countless hands. At any other vantage point, the gaps between the panels become apparent, symbolizing the inherent disconnect between individuals and the indivisibility of existence.
As an artist, I believe that the truth lies within these contrasting viewpoints, where the negative space is perceived. Many issues arise from misconstruing the presence of emptiness as absence. However, meaning cannot exist without emptiness, just as mathematics would be incomplete without zero.
