My current practice of art making is based on a pictorial and conceptual excavation of the roots of marginalization within the context of cultural critique. Through satire and pictorial constructions, I intend to uncover and integrate diverse elements from colonial, and post colonial socio- political situations, a region where ‘marginality’ being exercised in universal scale.

When we think about margin, we always think of it in relation to a phantom center, which holds and exerts power over the whole political framework. It is evident that this elusive center has been constructed on the notions of developed and underdeveloped, right and wrong, normal and abnormal, good and bad, cultured and primitive, high and low etc. “It defines the tacit standards from which specific others can then be declared to deviate, and while that myth is perpetuated by those whose interests it serves, it can also be internalized by those who are oppressed by it.” (Ferguson.1990, P.9) The objective of my current art practice intends to examine these dynamics through humor and satire.

The ‘subaltern,’ or the colonized individual, often becomes the subject in my works. The position of “subalternity” is an extraordinarily arid and sterile region, a zone of nonbeing. It is a dramatically constructed situation that describes its assigned position of obedience and dependence. In such condition, this individual is condemned to a powerless, only to perform inactive or reactive roles. This deaden and fixed region of subalternity, becomes the area of my subject matter for many works. In my paintings, I use metaphorical images of men and women, at times without any features, only ears, symbolizing the passive state of the “subaltern, the colonized.”

The effect of colonialism upon the identity constructions of colonial and post colonial cultures is one of the major concerns today. In my paintings and drawings the neck tie symbolizes an inescapable cultural and ideological bondage, in addition to its signification of access; it also acts as a noose. The English alphabetical letters stuffed in mouths of men and women in my drawings, especially the drawing and the painting “Indigestible Delicacy,” directly address the power of language as a form of domination and control. In relation to this idea, I have produced additional drawings and paintings, amongst them, the painting titled “Gentleman, the Clown” and drawing “Stuffed Personality” based on the apparent passive and indifferent situation of the colonized. Moreover, I intend to ridicule this distortion and that form of ideological and cultural bondage through satire, since these conditions make this subject a powerless clown and above all, an artifact in the cunning hands of oppression.

In addition, even though economic dominance becomes the nucleus and the generator of all other forms of repression, colonization has many other facets, such as cultural, ideological, and political. My paintings and drawings intend to address this myriad of colonial tradition and condition as well.


The painting “Modernity Reloaded” is based on the idea, that another aspect of this dynamic is modernization. To be ‘modern,’ or currently, (globalized)- postmodern means, to be a part of the West’s relationship to desire and consumerism. In other words, to be a part of a world system, that collectively shares the responsibility of realizing the accumulated surplus value of the center. In that sense, every form of hegemony, including cultural hegemony and homogenization, become essential and accommedating elements of maintaining the existing world system of mass production and consumption. As one of the pictorial elements in this work, I use the image of a Western style commode (toilet bowl), not only because its connotative aspect of consumerism, but since even this very simple object hides the notion of homogenization of even the most intimate aspect of human life. That means even defection, by implication, is coded within the Western axis of the primitive and the civilized.

Finally the drawing titled “Watch Your Genitals…Wolves in the Air” is based on the fantasy, that within this new space of globalization we all acquire unimaginable capabilities, all boundaries are abolished and that freedom of all peoples is the ultimate goal. In this drawing, my subject is naked, vulnerable, exposed and ready to be exploited in every possible way. His four arms are extended, docile and willing; his head is obliterated and has been replaced by gigantic mouth. He is consequently striped of the ability to discriminate and reduced to the monstrosity of a desiring and consuming beast.

Today’s art has been moved beyond its conventional margins, and positioned itself within the vast region of knowledge production. Taking this historical paradigm shift into consideration, my current artistic inquiry intends to employ its continuous search within sensitive regions such as power relations, marginality and dominance.

“The spectacle does not realize philosophy, but it philosophizes reality” - Guy Debord.