FATMA'S HAND

RESPECT FOR TRADITION…     MIRRORS; TWO WORLDS...

There was an oval-shaped object on the wall in my grandmother's house. The part facing us was made of metal with a relief surface of oriental flower motifs. I remember that it was only much later that I realised that there was a mirror on the back of the object wish  was used as a wall ornament.

I remember talking to my grandmother about why this mirror was hidden like that, but I don't remember what she told me. It's a shame how the mind and memory play tricks on us! I'd love to know what she said.

Years later, when I started working in the Historical Peninsula, I came across a mirror very similar to this one. Once I'd found a craftsman who could work on the mirror, I started designing it straightaway. I made it round instead of oval and reduced the size. The first thing I thought of for the patterns on the metal surface were the symbols of beliefs. I redrew the well-known evil eye, Fatima's hand, pomegranate and ladybird and made them suitable for traditional mirror production with metal inlay.

When I started looking into why the mirror was hidden, I found out that it is influence by shamanism. Lots of cultures have given the mirror different meanings from its normal use. For example, the Egyptians thought that the mirror was one of the objects that helped people cross over to the afterlife, so they did place it in the tombs.

In shamanism, there was a belief that the mirror was connected to moving into the spiritual world. They thought the mirror was important for shamans on their journeys and when they were in other realms. The idea that the mirror was a way of communicating with gods was common. In Turkish houses, they turned the mirror into the wall so people wouldn't look at it too much. It was believed that looking in the mirror often would bring bad luck.

Of course, we also look in the mirror to see how we look and to accepted ourselves. I think it's best to use the mirrors I designed with patterns on both the mirror and the back side.

With my mirror designs, which I named TWO WORLDS, I wanted to keep traditional metalwork alive and make it relevant to our modern lives. We can even start new conversations about the meaning of mirrors.

You can see how I made the mirrors, which I call TWO WORLDS, in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3YcmChywPQ