Born in Australia into a Turkish family and growing up in the land of vegemite and mozzie bites, taught to live by the values of a culture based in Islam. Attendeding schools where teachers ceaselessly mis-pronounced your name for the sake of their own convenience. Unable to roll their R’s it was much easier to annunciate the proper way. Often the conversation that ensued when people would ask tends to leave them wishing they never asked in the first place. In time, you opt to not even try explaining, adopting pseudonyms that fit the vernacular of whatever context you were in. Eastern, Errr-han, Western, ER-han.

You are Turkish or you are Australian. You are Western or you are Eastern. Bipartisan reasoning denying any right to nuance, to multiplicity. Coaxing us into conformity. This project explores the complexities of cross-cultural identities and existence beyond singular frameworks of belonging through a series of playful surrealist portraits, still life, street photography, archival images and text.