The shaman

The shaman

ali zulfikar paints in a tradition which emanates from his roots. dealing with oriental narratives and using home-made traditional “wool colours” that have a sensual glow. he inherited the knowledge of mixing and using “wool colours” (organic dyes used in woollen products) from his mother and other experts in his homeland turkey and over a period of years developed this even further. ali zülfikar's preferred colour is red in all it’s shades, combined with a cheerful sunny yellow. often ali zülfikar uses a deep blue as a base colour for his work. when viewing his paintings one appreciates the artist's work with its lively natural and organic colours derived from plants, which have their own materiality and structure. some of his paint such as the blue, dark blue and green are made of special raw materials which he sources in turkey, and then processes in his own way in his studio. his paints are unique because they do not bleach as is common in some organic dyes, but retain their strong colour appearance. quote: dr. winfried gellner, cologne, 12. 09. 2007
his narrative style uses original kelim* fragments, many archaic motifs and symbols with a central theme: caravans, wandering and migration. iIn doing this, the artist processes his own experience to pass on an understanding of his life and work to the next generation. In his recent work, ali zülfikar uses several layers one on top of the other. as the layers break up wonderful structures are revealed which reminds one of tree bark or lizard skin, providing age and depth. on top of this structure ali zülfikar prefers to draw beautiful women or mature male faces struck by life, placing female youth next to the wisdom of age to complete his outlook on life. he often adds a thin layer on top of his portraits so that they seem to disappear behind a pane of rain covered glass. there is always something new to discover so that the viewer never tires of exploring his paintings.