Over the past decade, I’ve come back to a topic, which somehow caught my attention, the subject of “Jackets” . Through these artworks, I’ve expressed emotions and thoughts that often defy verbal articulation, using jackets as vessels of my psychological landscape.

The journey began in 2017, at a time when I found myself amid transitions and uncertainties. Standing before the blank 90×90 cm canvas, I chose a palette of greyish and greenish tones, reflective of my inner state. The lone jacket that emerged on the canvas seemed suspended in an undefined space, mirroring my feelings of ambiguity. It was as though I was capturing a part of myself that felt adrift, floating between what was known and what lay ahead.

As the pandemic enveloped the world, so too did a profound sense of stillness and waiting within me, which I explored in my next painting. On a smaller scale at 30×60 cm, three summer jackets hung on a hook, infused with the vibrant colors of hopeful anticipation. Yet, these garments were caught in a state of inertia, much like I was. They awaited the possibility of freedom, embodying the longing I felt to break free from the confines of a period marked by societal shutdown and introspection. It wasn’t just the jackets that waited—their inactivity was my own, as I grappled with the weight of an extended pause in life.

The winter of 2023 brought a different palette and mood, mirroring a shift in my internal dialogue. On a 90×150 cm canvas, two winter jackets emerged, each detailed with care—a blue bomber with an orange inner lining and fur-trimmed hood paired with a green jacket revealing a warm brown lining. Creating this piece was cathartic, channeling my need for protection and warmth in the face of the cold outside and within. These jackets became symbols of endurance, of enveloping oneself in layers of security during times when the harshness of life feels especially acute.

The final painting in this series marks both a culmination and an introspective revelation, sprawling across a 150×180 cm canvas. Here, three jackets—each distinct in its story—hang united on a single hook in the same spot in my flat. The green winter jacket, signifying resilience; the red coat, bold and full of fervor; and the blue jacket, filled with feathers, representing comfort and transformation. As I painted them, I realized they were not just garments but parts of me, reflections of different phases, emotions, and growth in my life. In their collective existence, they narrate the silent story of my life, my psychological evolution within the walls that have witnessed my journey.

Through these jackets, I’ve documented my ongoing dialogue with identity, change, and survival. Each brushstroke has been a step in mapping out an emotional landscape, interpreted through the familiar and the everyday, providing both solace and illumination.