Ulas UYGUN

I painted each one of them with much respect and admiration for their courage and vulnerability.

I painted each one of them with ever more hope for a better future, knowing well that by celebrating their healing journey today, and speaking out to make a safer community, we’ll also be celebrating every other man who was once in their shoes.

VISUAL STORYTELLING

Visualizing the healing journeys of these beautiful people was one of the most rewarding experiences of my practice. I wanted to do my best to pay justice to the inspiring dimensions of commitment, courage, healing and personal rediscovery I found in these stories. So I came up with a visual system that made use of quite a few artistic elements:  

I blended contours of the subjects into the background, using a grainy gradient fading into the background. This was a reference to their commitment to being present in the new chapter of their lives.

I chose to create a visual contrast between the buildings and the subjects, emphasizing the liberating and positive qualities of the healing journey further. To this end, I painted all subjects in a dynamic pose wearing clothing that blows freely in the wind, while keeping the structures fairly rigid and dull.

Theirs are stories about stepping out of the vertical as well as the horizontal. Theirs are stories about truly rediscovering oneself. Yes, healing is a deeply personal process but it is also one that takes on a collective quality when there’s room for dialogue.   

I chose to depict each subject rising above the brutalistic buildings in some way or another. This is my way of visualizing their commitment to healing.

Some subjects are seen wearing a playful blindfold, as if he’s playing hide and seek. This was an intentional metaphor I used for the theme of rediscovery. A blindfold is a striking visual touching on the theme of consent in the context of healing this time.

Some paintings feature two identical figures instead of one. This was another metaphor I used for the theme of rediscovering oneself.