L’objet de Moi

3 x 4″ x 8″ panels
ink, gold, silver on wood

I (yet to be) am
I am transparent
like the morning dew

I obey to strange lands
as water takes the shape of the Holy Grail

I am not afraid of change
like water that transforms from snow to rain

I go around people who are imbued with deceit
as water goes around rocks

I am fearless
like water that never hesitates as it drops from high cliffs

I seldom forget nobility
as water retains a memory of what was

I refine myself with all I learn
like water renews in its self-cooling, swirling, serpentine motion

I am persistent
like the ancient water has been making its way through boulders

I listen with my heart
as water embodies the indigenous stories of the history of a place

water is a portal to realms of deeper truth
as in the epic of Gilgamesh
I am the portal to distant lands I create

water is destruction from which emerges life
as for Noah or Manu
as for me, I give life to a piece of clay

water is wise in its ceaseless cycles of pulsations
while it fills wells of eternal life
and searches for the diffused lights of the forest
I seek wisdom like a thirsty man seeking water

I (yet to be) am water

as before water, life was not
after life, water will be

This poem portrays what I want to be rather than what I am. I refer to some of the fascinating attributes of water presented in Sufi, Native American and epic narratives, Islamic and Christian sacred texts and scientific studies.

For my artwork, I used an ancient gilding technique to create a background of gold and silver for the river, which symbolizes what I want to be someday. Gilding is a long and meditative technique, where first a layer of red clay is applied, sanded and polished; then the gold leaf is adhered to the surface of the clay by breathing on the clay surface. The clay symbolizes the earth from which humans were created.  Breathing is giving life.

Gold is a deliberate choice as well. It symbolizes purity and my quest to perfect, illuminate and refine myself, just like water’s quest to refine itself by swirling, and cooling. Silver is symbolic of awareness, clarity, and vision – three attributes I seek. Silver is also a symbol of the ability to be molded into something better keeping the core integrity intact just like I wish to be flexible and obey to strange lands and be strong.

That cool, transparent, flexible, fearless, persistent, and wise river is me – yet to be.

Bir gün (ben)
sabah oluşan berrak çiğ tanesi gibi olduğum gibiyim, gizlim saklım yoktur

uzak diyarlara gitsem boyun eğer, uyum sağlarım
suyun bardağın şeklini alması gibi

değişiklikten korkmam
suyun kardan yağmura yağmurdan buhara dönüşmesi gibi

dürüst olmayan insanların etrafından dolanırım
suyun önüne çıkan kayaların etrafından dolaşması gibi

korkusuzum
yüksek kayalardan düşen şelaleler gibi

iyiliği unutmam
suyun hafızası olduğu gibi

yenilerim kendimi öğrendiklerimle
suyun kendini akarken soğutup her daim temiz kaldığı gibi

inatçıyım
suyun etrafından dolaşamadığı kayaları delmesi gibi

kalbimle dinlerim
suyun bulunduğu yerdeki hikayelerin tarihini barındırması gibi

su bilinmeyene giden geçit olur Gılgamış’ın da geçtiği
bense hayalimde yarattığım diyarlara bir geçidim

su felaketin ardından hayat verendir
Nuh Peygamberde olduğu gibi
bense toprağa can veririm heykellerimle

su bilgedir, durmak bilmeyen ritmiyle sonsuzluğun kuyularını doldururken
ve ormanın gölgelerini ararken
bense susuz birinin su araması gibi arar dururum bilgeliği

bugün değil belki ama bir gün
ben de su gibi olacağım

sudan önce yaşam yoktu
yaşamdan sonra su olacak