Contrast and opposition, two words which I find myself focusing on a lot of the time.
I could say that the reason why, is that I’ve always been in a situation of opposition, or in a merge of two opposites.
I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey, going to a French high school where most of the students were children of expats, making the environment a diverse one for people that came from the outside. For me, and the ones around me, it was something that we were all used to, having friends from different countries, speaking different languages, but somehow united in one city. As for my family, we are also a complex one. I would spend my summers in a small village on the countryside in Turkey, and Christmas in Paris. Celebrate all the Muslim holidays and go to church on Christian holidays. So it’s the way I grew up that made me so fond of exploring opposites and their bond when put together.
When gathering two objects or images that would usually be categorized as contradictory, one can create a new layer of meaning. A new artist that I recently discovered, and that works on this idea is Theo Mercier. In his series Memento Mori, he turns Goodyear tyres into medallions containing ancient artefacts, as he questions the feeling of nostalgia, the wheel of time. The idea of questioning a feeling with two completely different objects that have nothing to do with the subject, was what drew me into his work.
As I try to find a path to explore, the idea of opposition and creating new layers is intriguing me more and more.
2016 – Memento Mori
Theo Mercier
