Zokak

Zokak is the name given for the tent-wall that the Ottoman armies
erected around their tent-city while on campaign, doing so in order to
hide their activities from anyone who would be interested to see what
they were undertaking and also creating a sort of labyrent for
intruders. The material of the original Ottoman zokak was decorated in
the appliqué technique and embroidered in a colorful way, with motives
in the Ottoman (Islamic) traditional art form that consisted mainly of
stylized plants. For the artist the zokak symbolizes everything that
is connected to the creating of distance between people.  At the time
of the making of Zokak, in Turkey, there was an intensive discussion
on the women's right to cover their head. On the other hand, for
people of many nationalities it is almost impossible to travel or to
enter into a European country, walls that run through cities still
exist in our world. Hence there is a connection with the zokak which
represents everything or everyone that possibly should not be seen or
kept at a distance and therefore should be separated. The work has
pictures that mostly talk about the separating of (young) women from
society. There are pictures of physical barriers, of which we are very
aware like water, walls, bars, wild animals (snakes and lions),
headscarves, keys and buttons that do not give us access to that what
we desire or would like to see like hair, breasts and vulvas. On the
other hand there are also pictures that represent the sub-conscious,
that through the use of admiration of spiritual or creative power of
the main character, create a more psychological distance. The power of
these persons is indeed mostly more mystical than physical. The female
characters are chosen from and inspired by myths, fairy-tales and
stories, secular as well as religious ones, many of them have taken
place in Anatolia and are thousands of years old. One thinks of
Daphne, Saint Thecla, Shahmaran, Rapunzel and Hathor.  In many of
these stories, women can alter their appearance (becoming
half-human/half-plant or animal), tame wild animals, keep fire in
their hands, seduce men and bring an end to life if they so desired.