ROOTED IN
IDENTITY CREATED
IN FREEDOM
IT ALL BEGINS WITH A FEELIING
✦
IT ALL BEGINS WITH A FEELIING ✦
BEHIND THE CANVAS
This painting probably describes me better than I could describe myself.
I’ve been making art for as long as I’ve been able to hold a pencil. Before I even knew what an artist was, I was drawing, creating and finding ways to put feelings onto paper. I don’t really remember deciding to become an artist it has just always been part of who I am.
My most honest way of expressing myself has always been through art. Words have never felt like the most natural way for me to communicate what’s within me. Somehow, a painting can say what I mean far more honestly than I ever could. For me, creating has always been the most fulfilling way to give those things a voice.
I’m fascinated by our inner and outer worlds, what we carry quietly within us, and the world we belong to outside of ourselves. Memory, identity, place, emotion, freedom and the invisible things that shape who we become.
Freedom finds its way into almost everything I create. Sometimes it means belonging. Sometimes identity. Sometimes understanding ourselves, our history, or the world around us. And sometimes it is simply the freedom to exist as we are.
For me, Art sits somewhere between those two worlds what we see, and what we feel.
artworks
Journey of the Soul
2023–2024 · Original mixed-media painting · One of one
This is one of the paintings I have felt most connected to from the inside out.
I worked on it from 2023 into early 2024, and somewhere during that time the line between me and the painting became blurred. We were almost growing together. Things were added, removed, covered and returned to. Nothing was placed there simply to fill a space. Every figure, colour, object and small detail carries something.
At its heart, this painting is about the journey of the soul — the strange inner journey we all have, even when our lives look completely different from the outside.
The portrait, the mirror, the flowers, the skeleton, the birds, the ancient writing, the figures gathered at the bottom, the deep purples and reds, they all belong to that journey. I think everyone who spends enough time with this painting will find something in it that belongs to them.
The work combines oil and acrylic, with areas of glow-in-the-dark paint worked into the skeleton so that part of the painting changes when the light disappears. The Kurdish partridge is another detail that holds a lot, alongside the cuckoo bird and the many smaller symbols hidden throughout the composition.
There is life and death in it. Memory, identity, the body, the inner world, transformation and the things we carry with us without always knowing how to explain them.
For a long time, I couldn’t properly look at this painting. I kept it with me, but I wasn’t ready to put it out into the world. It has never been exhibited, and there has never been another version of it.
Now I finally feel ready to let it be seen properly.
Artwork Details
Title: Journey of the Soul
Created: 2023–2024
Original Artwork: One of one
Dimensions: 160 cm (H) × 180 cm (W)
Canvas Depth: 4 cm when stretched
Medium: Oil and acrylic on primed canvas, with glow-in-the-dark painted details
Finish: Varnished
Canvas: Hand-stretched and prepared by the artist
This painting was created completely from scratch. The canvas was personally stretched and primed by the artist before painting and has been varnished after completion to protect the finished work.
The painting is currently stretched on a 4 cm deep wooden stretcher frame.
Delivery & Stretcher Information
Due to the large scale of this artwork (160 × 180 cm), shipping outside the local area will be arranged with the canvas removed from its stretcher frame and carefully prepared for transport. The wooden stretcher frame is not included with shipped orders. The canvas can then be professionally re-stretched onto a new frame at its destination.
For local buyers, the original stretcher frame can be included. Collection can be arranged, or local delivery may be possible depending on location.
If you are purchasing from outside the UK or require specialist delivery arrangements, please contact the artist directly before purchasing to discuss the safest shipping option.
This is the only original version of Journey of the Soul. There are no copies or duplicate original paintings.
white night
This painting shows a Kurdish village surrounded by high mountains. The houses are built closely together along the mountain, with small lights coming from the windows and streets.
During the warmer months, people often sleep outside on balconies, rooftops and terraces, where the mountain air is cooler. Some lights remain on while the village becomes quiet.
I wanted to leave the time uncertain. It could be the last light before darkness, or the first light before everyone wakes. I want the viewer to enter the village and experience it for themselves — the height of the mountains, the warmth of the lights and the calmness of sleeping under an open sky.
Artwork Details
Original: One-of-a-kind original painting
Size: 30 × 20 cm
Medium: Oil on canvas
Canvas: Primed canvas
Finish: Varnished for protection
Frame: Professionally framed in a 10 mm dark grey stained floating shadow-gap frame
Signed: Signed and dated by the artist
Ready to hang: Fitted with hanging hardware.
Free UK delivery
I painted Berfîn Rêbaz because I wanted to tell a little of her story through my work. She was a Kurdish woman and commander who became known for her role in the Kurdish resistance. What interested me was not only who she was as a fighter, but the woman behind that image and what she represented
The flower on the back is Gulê Şilêr, a red flower that grows in the mountains of Kurdistan. Berfîn once spoke about the flower and connected its deep red colour to the blood of Kurdish fighters who dedicated and sacrificed their lives for Kurdistan. Her words stayed with me, and that is why Gulê Şilêr became an important part of this painting.
Painting details
Artwork: Original oil painting
Dimensions: 27.5 cm (W) × 32.5 cm (H) × 3 cm (D)
Canvas: Primed canvas
Finish: Varnished
Frame: Floating frame
Signed: Signed and dated by the artist
Edition: One-of-one original
Display: Framed and ready to hang
Copies: No other original or duplicate will be made
Kolbar
This painting is dedicated to the Kolbars of Kurdistan — people who carry heavy goods across the mountains and borders on their backs in order to earn a living and support their families.
The word Kolbar comes from Kurdish: kol meaning “back” and bar meaning “load.” Their journeys take them through steep mountains, snow, freezing temperatures and dangerous border routes. For many, this work is not a choice, but a result of poverty and a lack of other opportunities.
Through this painting, I wanted to capture more than the physical weight carried on their backs. It is also about the invisible weight of survival, responsibility and sacrifice.
The mountains are part of their struggle, but they are also part of their home.
Painting details
Artwork: Original oil painting
Dimensions: 27.5 cm (W) × 32.5 cm (H) × 3 cm (D)
Canvas: Primed canvas
Finish: Varnished
Frame: Floating frame
Signed: Signed and dated by the artist
Edition: One-of-one original
Display: Framed and ready to hang
Copies: No other original or duplicate will be
Salim
I came across a video of Salim, a ten-year-old boy from Shengal, selling sweets on the street. There was something about him that stayed with me, and I wanted to paint him.
The tray is full of sweets, colours and small details that we normally connect with childhood. But here, Salim is the one carrying and selling them. That contrast was what interested me most.
His name, سەلیم (Salim), means safe, sound or unharmed. Knowing the meaning of his name gave the portrait another meaning for me.
His birthmark, his clothes and the tray he carries are all details I wanted to keep. I simply wanted to paint what I saw and remember this small moment of Salim’s childhood through my work.
Artwork Details
Original: One-of-a-kind original painting
Size: 30 × 20 cm
Medium: Oil on canvas
Canvas: Primed canvas
Finish: Varnished for protection
Frame: Professionally framed in a 10 mm dark grey stained floating shadow-gap frame
Signed: Signed and dated by the artist
Ready to hang: Fitted with hanging hardware
Free UK delivery
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