TÊTE-À-TÊTE

One of the biggest fears we all share as human beings is to face our own inner self, because that means to connect with our subconcious – the unknown part of our psyche where we might discover unexpected truths. "Tête-à-Tête" (from French “face to face”) is a self-portrait series. This project is a journey into my subconscious where I am exploring my childhood memories, dreams, fears, and fantasies with a somewhat humorous approach. Through this journey, I am metaphorically facing my own self, while at the same time allowing the viewers to have a glimpse into my inner world. We all carry with us the inseparable “baggage” of our past, our experiences, and our childhood memories. It is always there with us, and it often informs our dreams, influences our subconcious reactions to certain situations, or finds its way into our relationships with others. Being an immigrant all my life, I feel that the “baggage” I always carry with me is rather multifaceted and complex. My identity is shaped by various cultures and places where I lived. It is often difficult for me to distinguish where I really belong, and where this place is that I should call “my home”. The symbols that I am exploring in this series have of course personal meaning for me, but they are also universal symbols that people from various cultures can relate to even if they would mean something different to them. I believe in the “collective wisdom” – a philosophical term referring to the idea that all human beings are in some way connected through ancestral memory or a certain knowledge that we all share subconsciously, and from where we often draw our associations, feelings, and reactions. Therefore, Tête-à-Tête is also in a way an invitation for the viewers to engage with me in this personal and yet very playful dialog, to travel with me through their imagination and, perhaps, even encounter and reconnect with their own shadows and psychological “baggage” Tête-à-Tête.