THERA

In 2014, during a visit to Manisa city following an invitation, I had the opportunity to discover composite materials. At a time when I was searching for ways to create large scale works, this unfamiliar material appeared before me and inspired me in a completely new way. In the model workshop of the factory in Manisa, I selected one of the sketches I had drawn years earlier and began carving. ​ During this period, I encountered something that would completely change the course of my life. While watching a documentary about the lost continent of Atlantis, I came face to face with an image that left a profound impact on me. The shape of Santorini (Thera) Island believed by some to be the location of Atlantis and said to have sunk beneath the waters after a massive earthquake and the giant tsunami waves it unleashed in the middle of the Aegean Sea was strikingly similar to the sculpture I had just begun creating. ​ This coincidence gave me the strong feeling that I was creating something connected to Atlantis.The feeling was powerful and impossible to ignore. One night, while continuing my research, I came across an article on my screen. The information I read left me completely astonished. The headline read: ​ “Is the Capital of the Lost Continent Atlantis in Manisa?” This is how Thera, the first sculpture of my Atlantis themed series, came into existence. And with the works that followed, the adventure continued to grow, becoming ever more powerful with each new piece.