Candan Isik
Metamorphosis: Self-Creation (100 x 120 cm, mixed media on canvas)
Metamorphosis captures the moment a woman withdraws into her inner world, freeing herself from the judgmental, restrictive gaze of the outside world. The blue butterfly wings covering her face represent a soul preparing to emerge from its cocoon, while the fiery red and purple lotus at the lower centre embodies the will to build one's existence anew: "I was born not from the ashes, but from within myself."
Metamorphosis (detail)
Incubation (100 x 120 cm, mixed media on canvas)
Incubation depicts a quiet, deeply rooted resistance to social norms and imposed identities. With her back turned to the viewer, the figure rejects the masks presented to others. The cold blue wings covering her back are a protective shell rather than a sign of flight, and the blood-red background carries suppressed anguish and potential on the verge of erupting. Her red hair is the first spark of the inner fire kept alive beneath that shell.
The third work of the series, exploring awakening, is currently in progress.
