Sibel Horada, 1980

Sibel Horada’s work focuses on the history of the personal and the collective in both urban and natural contexts; and calls into question memory, disappearance, and stories woven together in strange and coincidental ways. The artist believes that memory is more than a means of storing recollections; it also involves processes that enable production and transformation. Distilling textual and narrative content, the artist makes use of the possibilities offered by three-dimensional materials and monumentalizes her investigations into personal and collective memory in her poetic and poignant sculptural forms.

Reconstructed from thirty-eight branches of a burnt beech tree, “Forest” was produced using a Japanese wood finishing technique called Shou Sugi Ban in which a destructive treatment is employed to make wood more durable. This method involves burning the wood, then extinguishing the fire once all surfaces are evenly charred, thus obtaining a carbonized outer layer that protects the inner tissues not only against rot and decay, but also against subsequent fires. Produced in 2018, when the artist was invited by Kunstverein Ludwigsburg in Germany to hold an exhibition, this work draws inspiration from the story of how, in the face of the imminent threat of the Black Plague in the 14th century, the city’s community united to fight against it and made the joint decision to isolate their city, and thus plunged into solitude. Horada defines this installation as a manifestation of the possibility of collective resistance forged through solitude, healing and shared experience. “Forest” carries the possibility and hope of making people more resilient in the face of destructive social and personal incidents.