A Stream of Consciousness Beyond Time and Space

With an artistic foundation rooted in years of experience, Yasemin Sözer pursues a profound inquiry into human existence through her works. On this journey, she frequently reconstructs technical and material hierarchies, boldly expanding the possibilities of expression. Her works are charged with intense emotion, centered on fundamental concepts such as memory, history, space, migration, and identity. While inviting the viewer on a temporal journey, she delves into the deepest layers of consciousness through metaphors crafted with visual language.

In Sözer’s figures, the female body reinterprets historical narratives through undefined spaces, offering a unique perspective while exposing the clash between Eastern and Western historical viewpoints. The connection between the exoticized images of the past and the political realities of the present emphasizes the artist’s critical approach.
Her works feature ambiguous silhouettes, abstract forms, and dense layers of color, reflecting the complexity of the human inner world. The textures accumulating on the surface of the canvas make the traces of memory and the subconscious visible. Sözer encodes emotions and thoughts that could be expressed in words through images. The rhythmic structure of her compositions and their balanced forms function as visual aphorisms, guiding the viewer toward an intuitive perception, while her expressive brushstrokes reinforce emotional depth.

Particularly in her works on migration, a sincere narrative emerges, shaped by her own internalized roots. Figures depicted within undefined spaces create a visual depiction of displacement and alienation. Layered surfaces and the abstracted forms reflect the sensitive psychology of migrants, while sharp color transitions trace individual and societal conflicts.

When grouped, Sözer’s works and the themes she selects reveal the breadth of her artistic language and the vastness of the concepts she explores. Her series, shaped around memory, migration, identity, cosmology, and literary references, the viewer to engage in both personal and collective reflection. Each series carries a unique atmosphere both formally and conceptually, coming together as fragments of the artist’s holistic world. 

Beyond the distinct characteristics of her figures, the undefined and multidimensional spaces left to the imagination highlight the blurriness of memory and the ambiguous nature of reality. In her portraits, individuals are not defined by a completed story; they are abstracted from their identities and placed in a timeless state. This practice of anonymization creates a presence beyond the individual; reviving the voices of those forgotten, lost, or erased on canvas. Her avoidance of rigid adherence to specific colors serves as a reminder that stability is always fragile in a world filled with global uncertainties, individual conflicts, and traumas.

In Sözer’s works, meaning, much like Derrida’s concept of différance, cannot be fixed; the images resist certainty, constantly shifting and transforming with the viewer’s interpretation. This tension between the defined and the undefined, the concrete and the abstract, serves as a central expressive tool in her art. The viewer is not merely an observer but also a creator of meaning; each gaze adds a new layer or transforms the existing one.
Ultimately, Yasemin Sözer’s works, with their philosophical depth and social sensitivity, reveal the artist’s rich emotional and intellectual foundation, captivating viewers who can perceive this depth with an overwhelming impact. Her art transforms into a stream of consciousness beyond time and space, compelling the viewer to feel and think simultaneously.

Prof. Dr. Merih TEKİN BENDER