Untitled (Uprooted self-portrait)

Yaşam Şaşmazer, who primarily explored the conflicts between the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ in her early works, has shifted her focus to examining these contrasting and conflicting elements through the interplay of humans’ interactions with fellow individuals, non-human beings and the natural world in her more recent productions. Her artistic practice, encompassing sculptures and installations deeply intertwined with space and time, features colours and textures derived from natural and unprocessed materials. In her wooden sculptures, Şaşmazer incorporates such organic materials as stones, mushrooms, soil, moss, lichens, tree branches and roots through methods such as addition, inclusion and juxtaposition.

Defined as a self-image by the artist, "Untitled (Uprooted Self-Portrait)" was created while Şaşmazer resided in Berlin, away from ‘home’. In this work, the stump of a walnut tree, winched off the ground, transforms into a rudimentary humanoid form while retaining its innate essence. The roots, appearing to sprout from the face of this anonymous figure, evoke a range of emotions such as rootedness, belonging, displacement and permanence. This metamorphosed and uprooted being whose identity remains elusive invites dichotomies such as human/non-human, animate/inanimate and organic/inorganic while also raising questions around the notions of life and transience.