Guardian

Cotton & wool, 85 x 120 cm, Private Collection

In the world’s mythologies, serpents represent guardians of sacred spaces and treasure. Perhaps this is because when threatened, snakes usually hold their ground rather than retreat. According to Middle Eastern beliefs, the Sun God sends his power to the Earth in a coiling movement. Legends say every home has its own guardian soul—mostly in the form of a snake—that brings luck and prosperity, and wards off harm and disease. (I’ve heard similar stories about the Black Snakes of Bodrum, my hometown.) My colorful snake, designed in the shape of the Evil Eye, almost becomes Pop Art.