The beginning
The beginning of my journey through my identity was wanting to define the cultural roots of being a citizen within a geographical boundary. Then I became fascinated by the process of having an individual identity and the tools for showing our similarities rather than our differences. It was the starting point, but it ended up with an abstract way of answering my question: where is the artist’s identity from his practice? I was feeling isolated in my practice so I am trying to find a common language which I can use to communicate with the whole world. I do believe that change is good, especially when it follows research and brings convenience.
Focusing on my identity might produce fears of losing my character in the diverse modern world. I try to have a message for the world: all colours and all nations around the earth. It is a kind of conversation which I can communicate anywhere to rethink lonely but together.
The information in the human mind, which is what makes us different, is different. Memories help to make us who we are. I carry out investigations into the concept of identity by means of remembering our memories. I notice that it centres around the wonder of our brain as seen through amnesic perspectives. This process invited me to evaluate my perception of its beauty.
My father has received a shocking diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. He has lost the ability sometimes to recognise me, and that is so sad to recall. He was a head judge of the court and now he is never able even to remember his daily routine. No words can describe how he sees the world in a very different way to that of an adult, to me. I put myself in his shoes: I felt how important it is to stand with him and I decided to put all of my effort into understanding his feelings. I feel compelled to embrace this idea in my artwork and hopefully raise awareness about our memory which is our identity resource.
When I started my MA, my father saw my work and he said: ‘I did not send you to Britain to play with materials, I want you to be a doctor’. In reality, I am an artist who wants to do a PhD in art, but I am not a doctor. I cannot be a doctor, but I can help doctors by raising awareness about health and disease in our society. I shall try to vaccinate the public with some unimaginable medical pictures about their bodies so they can understand the disease deeply not only when they are stricken with it but before that. Not only about the negative aspect of it but also about highlighting the beauty of our body and rethinking our health care.
My dad is not the only one. There are about 35 million people around the world living with some kind of dementia, and by 2030 the number might double to 70 million. Dementia scares us, the confused faces and shaky hands of people who we love, the increased number of people who get it, who is next? We are going into denial: ‘it is never going to happen to me’. Or we are trying to prevent dementia by doing everything right so that it will not get us. My concern is to find my way to being prepared for getting Alzheimer’s one day. What can I do more than writing emergency phone numbers on yellow stickers, writing down my allergies, my blood type and so on? I want to activate my receptors of losing my memory over the years, but in contrast, how can I imagine having a long-lasting memory? How if I cannot forget my bad experiences?
In high school, medicine was my passion, but when I had to choose between art and science; I chose art, and now I choose science to be my research approach to art to take on new challenges and question preconceptions. I am interested in the fascinating relationship between different disciplines to experiment with the connections and to explore new inspiration resources. The new methodology of contemporary art makes me feel more comfortable talking about science to contribute to the evolution of an understanding of what the new global art is and how it can make a contribution to society. It might grow a public awareness of developments and innovations in fields of human biology. It is an area which both artists and scientists are most interested in pursuing collectively and creatively towards developing new visions for the future. I am working in parallel with the future of art to show what we have in the new global art.
