Transparencies, Reflections, and Blank Spaces
Drawings
Shadows of Perception
This series of drawings explores how reality is perceived and understood. It draws inspiration from ancient philosophies and modern scientific findings: The Chinese claimed that the world is merely a representation, while Buddhists viewed reality as an illusion or dream. Modern quantum physics also suggests that what we perceive as solid objects are, in reality, frequencies interpreted by our senses.
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In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato describes individuals who have been shackled since birth and can only see the shadows of objects projected onto the cave wall by a fire behind them. For these prisoners, the shadows are the only reality they know. Plato used this allegory to highlight the difference between the sensory world—the world of shadows in the cave—and the intelligible world of ideas, which exists outside the cave, eternal and unchanging. If what we perceive is merely a shadow of the true world of ideas, how then does an idea manifest or construct itself in the material world?
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This series invites reflection on the nature of perception and the fluid boundaries between reality and representation. Plato’s concept of representation is also transferred to an artistic level: Art depicts objects that, in turn, are representations of the true idea. This raises fundamental questions: Do we see a depiction of the representation of the idea of a bottle, or could it also be the form of a bottle constructed by light and shadow? What do we actually see? Is the object less real because it is a representation of an object that itself is a representation of the true idea?
Bottles and their materiality play a central role in this series. Their shape, transparency, and reflections become tools to question our perception. What do we perceive when we look through the glass or focus on the reflections on its surface? The deliberately empty areas in the drawings also invite viewers to actively participate in the creative process. These empty spaces could be filled with anything, yet our mind projects bottles into them. But does every viewer see the same bottle? What do we truly perceive—an object or a symbol shaped by our expectations? The viewers are encouraged not only to question the objects in front of them but also to reflect on the act of seeing itself.
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Thus, these drawings explore the fragile boundary between what is seen and what is understood. They remind us that our perception of reality is fragmented and incomplete. In this sense, the series invites reflection on how we create meaning and construct our reality.
