"Water..."

Where does the soul take its power from? Does it take the power from all the things we do in the mysterious circle of our lives? Or does it indeed have a sacred and untouchable source that we don’t know? Does it really?

Where does the soul take its power from sincerely? Here with the word of “soul” ,I am speaking about the thing we feel as ourselves beyond our thoughts. It sometimes gets exhausted and we become silent, feel alone and empty in its absence. Really why does the soul get exhausted sometimes?

Let’s hang these questions for a while and I will tell you about the “water”.  Water doesn’t have any identification. Doesn’t have a taste; it takes the thirst away silently and peacefully. Water is like a great space that enters in the middle of chaos. It refreshes, gives peace and comfort. While doing that, it doesn’t give a taste or a feeling. It just prepares us for a new taste.

Water is modest; never gets angry or takes offense of not having a taste. Never runs after rhetoric. The large space that water opens is the only thing the soul needs. Speechless, silent, humble and empty moments… The soul needs water when it is exhausted. Sometimes the thirst of the soul is so strong that we come to the state of not feeling anything, even thirst…

 

“Eternal circle”, oil on canvas, 160x190 cm, 2010

In my paintings water is a metaphor: I wanted to feature the thirst of the soul. The undefined, empty moments are identified with water. This need of emptiness finds its meaning in a ritual of cleansing of the soul in the depth of the blue colour. The soul redefines itself in the embracing presence of the water. It remembers itself, has its own catharsis in each and every painting. It faces with itself in the deep emptiness, forgives itself and rises to the surface.

I almost hear some people speaking like: “Does the water have to be blue all the time? How cliché!” That is true; but blue is a colour which the effect of depth and infinity can easily be associated with. The endless oceans reflect the blue colour of the sky. The mysterious power of the blue colour supports the wisdom and the embracing nature of the water. Also I’d like to drink water in a blue glass… In this case there is nothing more natural for me than painting the water in blue..

This exhibition has been a show which the blue light touched to everything. For me, emptiness and the soul find their meaning in blue. Now it is time to cherish the unidentified emptiness and to commend it…

Zuhal Baysar