This is the fourth piece in the Stone Conversations series. It explores the theme of social hierarchy. The conversation among the stones can be interpreted in two main ways, though there are certainly more perspectives.

One interpretation suggests that a leader is deceiving the group, presenting a false sense of equality, while the alternative view positions an outcast who reveals the truth about their actual inequality. It seems that hierarchy is embedded in our biological nature; even young children establish it. However, language allows us to transcend the material reality and reshape it according to our desires. Through language, we become self-aware agents capable of exercising free will. Yet, it’s crucial to remember that true freedom cannot come at the expense of others. No one is truly free until everyone is free.

See a video of the work in progress here and a video presentation here.

This series depicts imagined conversations among stones. What would they say? The series reminds me of the scene in "Everything Everywhere All at Once", where two stones are talking at the end of a cliff. But in this series, I assume the language of stones is restricted to only one word—the imprint of their shape. This single word can have any meaning. Sometimes I think that is enough. Maybe the core of language is to communicate—not to make sense.

Speaking Stones is a compilation of paintings made with imprints of ordinary stones.

I see the stone as a metaphor for popular struggle and protest. It is the closest available weapon to the powerless. Throwing stones is a symbolic form of violence. The aim is not to overpower the opponent physically. It demonstrates defiance in the face of power by expressing concretely that the premises of the situation aren't acceptable. The stone speaks but not in a language open to negotiation or dialogue. A conversation means accepting the context in which it takes place and is thus always, to a certain degree, a form of submission. The language of stones is the language of mute matter. A form of silence that nevertheless speaks clearly and directly. The stone represents the resistance in itself from a place outside of language.

The stone is an entirely exchangeable and ordinary object that exists everywhere. At the same time, each stone is unique and has its own beauty and unfathomable mystery for anyone open to seeing it. This duality fascinates me. A stone is perhaps the closest we can get to a thing-in-itself, bound as we are to language. It is sealed around itself, oblivious to the outside world. It simply exists. In a way, we can never truly understand. It is infinite in its everydayness, specific and concrete in its presence.

Res Ipsa is a compilation of works made by an act shaping the filler once it is prepared inside the frame. The works thus function as a recording device and give a statement of the event taking place while the filler was still wet.

Res Ipsa is Latin for "the thing itself" and is part of the juridical term "Res ipsa loquitur" (the thing speaks for itself), used when an injury or accident in itself clearly shows who is responsible, such as an instrument left inside a body after surgery.