And Earth/Land

The exhibition is taking place within the context of EMAA's May exhibition series. In my paintings, the people's love and longing for earth/land is questioned by means of an art that alludes to property issues in Cyprus; the main theme that informs these works is the love felt for earth/ land.

From a series of interviews and studies I conducted, I concluded that the deeds refugees had for earth/land that they left behind and the deeds that were given to the refugees in exchange for their losses have been confused and conflated for political reasons.
My grandmother used a question whether such a thing as a person without land could exist.
But now the qestion is whether such can exist without owning a deed for land.

Why is earth/land so important for people?
What is the relationship beween people and the earth/land?
What kind of feeling is it, to have ownership of earth/land?
What kind of entity is this earth/ land to which people are bound?

Earth/Land - deed - man

These questions make up the foundation of these works, in which new constructions of the image of 'parcelled land' have been built up, colored with symbolic meanings.

Used teabags have been worked and arranged in various ways to create rectangular space, where the different color stains and textures left by the different teas that they contained constitude the artist's material.

The teabags, which have been collaged with soil in various relations in the works, are transformed here into images of parcelled earth or land; these are the symbols of love and longing for the land.

Their rectangular forms evoke images of house plans and deeds, while at the same time, the idea of 'packaging' (teabags) suggests the packaged programs which have continually been presented of the refugees, failed to succeed, and then been shelved again.

Against all these negative experiences, the people of Cyprus have held on to their earth/land with all their love and longing, and either individually or as a group are still continuing their struggle.

My feeling is that as long as there is no absolute solution, this problem will continue. My dearest wish is to have a peaceful solution in the near future.