Neslihan Başer

Sweet Dreams, 2013,mixed media on canvas, 145 x 110 cm

The memories we experience, the dreams we wish to realise, and the emotions we carry belong to us and offer significant clues as to who we are. Throughout our lives, we search for ways to reach these clues in order to understand ourselves. Among the paths we follow, the most effective—and perhaps the most difficult—is the dialogue we attempt to establish with our inner world. This inward journey is effective because distance disappears and a constructive silence takes hold. It is difficult because, beyond the thoughts and emotions we are aware of yet try to conceal, unfamiliar feelings and ideas that have remained dormant begin to emerge. Within this context, through Sweet Dreams, I sought to explore the existence of these emotions that are present within all of us but remain in a state of sleep. Through the diversity of materials employed—paint, fabric, thread, and paper—the predominance of red and black, and the interwoven forms that create a sense of both movement and stillness, I aimed to convey the intensity of our dormant emotions and their attempt to shift from a passive state into an active one.