Dogs
teach us to see the world as one big playground, and to never lie about your feelings.
EXHIBITIONS
Erikken
Staying Alive Exhibition
16 September – 25 October · Tereze coffee, Almaty
if you are reading this you are alive, and we will celebrate that with a cup of joy-latte as you walk through tereze where all the works are scattered waiting to be found by youuu
Memories
of being lost between mama’s legs, drinking tea and really believing that women cry inside when it’s salty, washing our tiny dirty from topyraq legs after a long summer day with water that had been warming all day in a coca-cola bottle in our yard.
Moods
sometimes, felting can be a good way to express a mood, or to immerse yourself in one as you work - what it feels like to be surrounded by people you love, and how lonely it can sometimes be to confront yourself.
on being alive
when do we remind ourselves that we are alive? maybe when we desperately need to drink water, or when we choke harshly, or when we are so cold and finally feel the sun on our silly heads. or when we look at someone we love deeply lying dead, and we have to say goodbye. i did not know how to gather my latest works into one idea because i am a bad planner, until i experienced the last thing from this list. my apa left this world in july and i am still reflecting on how i want to tell her story. and then i thought: maybe the bigger things will come out later. for now, i can make an exhibition just about being alive. because she was so alive until illness took it all from her. and i think that vitality, that love for life, is something i learned from her and my mom (although she was my dad’s mother, paradoxically, it’s my mom who has that same energy for life with apa. maybe because they share the same root ümit (hope) in their names - ümitqul and ümitshaq)
almost all of these works were created while she was ill. i could not open my laptop to do the kind of work people usually do, so i bought acrylics and canvases and gave myself permission to do whatever i wanted, without cursing myself with bad words. i guess what i want to say to you with these things is: sometimes, being alive can be big enough umbrella for everything you do. off-topic advice: don’t be ashamed to laugh out loud no matter how old you are.
i dedicate this teeny-tiny exhibition to my apa, because she could teach stadiums on how to stay alive. if she saw my works, she would probably laugh, facepalm, and call me *erikken* - a slacker, a loafer, in kazakh. maybe you will think the same way too.
Special thanks
tereze coffee - for always supporting and opening their heart and window to artists @tereze_ala
sima omarkulova - for not being afraid to poop into her panties because of how scary it feels to be so exposed and for always staying erikken @cimamatography
YOU FEEL MOST ALIVE WHEN: