Türkiye/USA

The works in this series are a selection from my on-going Book of Kings project. Inspired by the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), an epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi in 1010, I reflect upon the Shahnameh’s stories of war, strife, dreadful chaos, and great beauty within the shape-shifting landscape of our world today. I mine the surfaces of contemporary society where words have lost meaning, making paintings on the backside of political campaign signs and cultural posters taken from city streets, in Europe, America, and the Middle East. Evoking pealing walls and flesh both visceral and disturbing, my paintings and artist books construct strata of densely layered signs and patterns embodied in the residue of present-day events.

Website: https://www.baykalrollins.com