UMBILICAL CORD
An exploration of the idea of human interaction that starts even before our birth.
The interaction that forms in the womb between a mother and child.
Umbilical Cord
Pearls wrapped in silicone
60' and 3''
8 pounds and 7 ounces
2021
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I made Umbilical Cord to explore my relationship with my mother. My mother and I have been almost entirely apart since I was 7 years-old. While I was young, she would leave for Russia to work and would only come back home twice a year. After my high school graduation, I moved to Turkey and then to the USA. The distance between us became even greater, and we see each other even less than before. Because of this distance, our relationship has evolved through digital communication via phone calls, voice messages, and texts. Umbilical Cord represents that long-distance relationship.
Photo - Sasha Zar
CONNECTION
experimental short film
Connection
Experimental short film
14 min, 25 sec.
2021
In Connection, I recorded real-life footage of the cord. The camera continuously follows the cord from the beginning until the end without any cuts. I used voice messages that my mother sent to me over the years: where she is happy, sad, proud, upset, and angry at me. I distorted the sound so that no one would understand the words that she is saying, but I wanted to preserve the emotional content at the heart of her messages, in the same way, that babies hear their mothers speech. Babies cannot understand their mothers’ speech while in the womb, but can feel her emotions.
THE WOMB
Nomadic Art Installation
The Womb
Immersive Installation
2022
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I decided to add one final addition to this series to create a complete immersive
experience. For this, I found a tent that by its shape and portability reminded
me of Kyrgyz booz ui (yurt), a nomadic dwelling that has been used by Kyrgyz people for thousands of years and is a significant part of Kyrgyz culture. The yurt represents the family, the earth, and the universe. The same way Kyrgyz yurts
traveled with nomads, The Womb will travel with me and be a part of different landscapes. With this, my hope is to connect with three mothers: my human mother, my motherland, and Mother Nature.
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The Womb. Exhibited at Charles Adam Studio Project’s 5&J gallery, Lubbock, Texas, 2022
The Womb. Exhibited at Big Bend National Park, Texas, 2022
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I remember whenever I would enter a yurt back in Kyrgyzstan I would feel as if the space of the yurt hugs me and gives me comfort. With The Womb, I wanted to evoke similar feelings where visitors would feel safe and embraced, like they are in a womb.
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The Womb. Exhibited at Charles Adam Studio Project’s 5&J gallery, Lubbock, Texas, 2022
If Human interactions affect the ways we perceive and think about the world
then our first interaction in our mothers’ wombs must have affected us the
most. With Umbilical Cord, Connection, and The Womb, I wanted to portray
both the physical and psychological distance separating me from my mother. By
doing that, I now understand that no matter how far the distance is between us
that there is always a strong invisible connection that links us together. I feel like this connection has existed since before I was born. It is the connection that
binds us together for eternity.