Spiral of life*
The tragic circumstances of his homeland, the remoteness of the landscape, and the emotional imprint of his early surroundings continue to provide much of his inspiration. For example, in his precious stones series of drawings, mostly on paper in black and white or shades of grey, he emphasises the importance of stones: sacred, venerated stones and mountains that for centuries have been the refuge of Kurdish community, providing sanctuary from submission, massacre, division and distraction. The imagined landscapes he creates are thus transformed into spiritual journeys.
Siti uses simple shapes or symbols –cubs, circles, cones, spiral- convey energy and counterforce, reflecting his perception of the cyclical and repetitive patterns of life and death. He juxtaposes the image of the house, represented by the cubs or stones, with enduring cycle of destruction and restoration, of life incorporating death. The physical structure of the house is transient: built, destroyed and replaced, perpetuating the cycle.
The search for collective and individual histories is another source of inspiration. In his family ties series, he reflects on the strengths and limitations of archaic societies in modern times. He employs a variety of shapes to express the tension.
Attraction and repulsion, movement and flexibility of these supportive yet oppressive social connections. Siti's visual language is therefore a metaphor for contradictions and conflicting states within the cycle of humankind. In the same way that poets tests the finite nature of language to probe the limitations and extremities of human thought and existence, in his many drawings and paintings, Siti also gives shape to the finite nature of live and the infinity if existence.
Rose Issa
*Extract from a forward by Rose Issa
