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Creative Philosophy
My artistic expression is grounded in a particular sensibility and worldview
-Nuri
Creative Philosophy:
Mediterranean Gothic
My artistic philosophy can best be described as Mediterranean Gothic. This sensibility is grounded in the gothic literary tradition and includes elements of magical realism and surrealism. This approach aims to navigate the world with a sense of wonder, explore liminal spaces, yet also critique society.
I focus on the Mediterranean, particularly the East, not as a sun-drenched vacation destination but as an ancient land, burdened by the past, concerned for the future, and in which real people live. What does it do to people when they are raised to believe that their culture's best days are behind them? How does it affect you when tourists visit your ruined temples but don't want to interact with you? How can children grow tall in the shadow of a statue of Hercules?
I seek to create fantastical alternative realities of the Eastern Mediterranean (both olfactory and literarily) so we can learn from our pasts instead of being haunted by them. More importantly, we can dream of a future that doesn't require destroying who we are in the process of becoming who we will be.
Mediterranean Gothic influences my artistic expression and shapes my storytelling and teaching style. It manifests in my perfumery in both narrative and structural ways. Structurally, I focus on incorporating traditional techniques and motifs but subverting them to explore the deeper terror and wonder that lies within these practices and histories.
Through Mediterranean Gothic, we can reimagine the social order and subvert the realities that are said to be immutable.
Themes within
Mediterranean Gothic
Multiplicity of Meaning
A baroque-ness, a lack of emptiness, created by layers of identity and meaning, which both independently tell a narrative and contribute to the whole. A worldview born out of the Pardes system of biblical exegesis where every passage holds multiple layers of meaning, all true at the same time, even when they contradict.
Hybrid Realities
A refinement of multiplicity, hybrid realities are the acknowledgement that reality can contain discordant states of existence that co-exist in the same physical space at the same time.
The Marvellous Real
Magic is just nature that is not yet understood. Magic is nature shrouded in mystery. It is only supernatural due to our limited understanding of the natural.
Mythopoetic
The mythology of the Eastern Mediterranean is interwoven into the work.
Ornate Symbolism
A focus on rhythmic patterns and symmetry: a creation of order out of chaos. Never rigid, but endlessly adaptive. The use of patterns to convey deeper meaning.
Terror and Wonder
An exploration of the bizarre and the wondrous as a means to understand the sublime.
The Femme
A general focus on the feminine experience within patriarchal structures.
Dark Humour
Sometimes we have to laugh otherwise we'd cry.
The Mediterranean
A focus on the physical landscapes and sea, as well as the cultures and communities of the Mediterranean, as both real and fantastical.
Liminality
A focus on liminal spaces and states of being.
Collectivism
No man is an island and our actions have consequences to others. We have a duty to one another whether we like it or not.
History & Fate
Struggle with the weight of lineage and history. Is our fate predetermined by our circumstances or can they be overcome?
Social Criticism
Critique of the failures of the social order, particularly nepotism, corruption, political apathy, religious fanaticism, consumerism, and lionising the past.