Buraq

Food coloring & acrylic on canvas, 50 x 70 cm, 3.000 Turkish Liras

According to Islam, Buraq is a human-headed horse with wings. In the Quran, Buraq carried the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem, and then up to Heaven and back in just one night. Derived from “Berk,” the Arabic word for “lightning”—which literally travels between the sky and Earth—it took on the meaning of something that brings one closer to Allah.

Inspired by a 20th-century Arab miniature painting