Somewhere in Asia - new artwork by Ekim
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Ever had the feeling of being stuck in some way?
A friend of mine used to call me "neophil". New things - particularly the change of location - is a beautiful way to get distracted from this knawing feeling of confinement or simple boredom.
When I was looking at some new pieces of art by Ekim I let it take me to Japan or somewhere around there...

It was late afternoon, when we landed at a small airport. It was already getting dark. We decided to choose one of the less inhibited islands, since we've been in the "big city" for too long. It was the longing for some piece of mind, nature and fresh air was, what had been driving us in the first place to go "on tour" again.









"Between the Mountains"
by Ekim
24"x32" on paper
2001
Being in a foreign country always generates confusion - if you let it. In our case: we neither spoke the language, nor was there anyone to talk to anyways. As soon as you left the airport, you were surrounded by trees and traffic signes, that didn't have any meaning to us at all! We decided to take one of the vehicles parked in front of the airport to take us to the closest hotel - preferably not too far from the beach.








"Graphic in Red"
by Ekim
24"x32" on paper
2001
The guy that was supposed to take us to a hotel didn't have the slightest idea what we were talking about. But since we were no natives - obviously - and didn't hand him a paper with some address (in his language) on, it was apparently not too hard for him to figure us out. Smiling, chuckling and nodding all the time "Tjai, tjai" he got going. Darkness fell, and the little light, that was left got absorbed by the jungle we were about to drive into. It was pitch black! These vehicles were not equipped with headlights. Either they were broken or never put on these custom made means of transportation. According to the speed, the driver obviously knew where he was going - so we tried to convince ourselves. Either his way or the highway. And since there was nothing even close to the later... After some torturing minutes, that seemed like hours we broke through the darkness of the jungle and a beautiful beach scene appeared in front of our eyes.


"Sunset"
by Ekim
24"x32" on paper
2001
We took our backpacks off the back of the vehicle, payed the driver and booked a room in the hotel "with the beautiful view" - as we called it, since we couldn't find any translation for the sign on front. The guard was greeting us, like we've been here before. So did the lady at the reception desk, who was handing us our keys, that carried the sign we had seen on front of the hotel. We were led to our room by someone who differed from the other people on the island just by his size. He was comparatively big. The room was nice, with a big window. Above the bed was a picture of an old man that looked just like the other islanders. "Maybe the granddad of all of them" we soon started joking. He must have been of some importance for the business since he had this hotel's signed tatooed on his forehead. After we recovered a bit, we went into the launge to have a couple of drinks, absorb the feeling of the place.


"Ohne Titel - Variation III"
by Ekim
17"x24" on paper computer modified
2001
The next morning was georgeous. Hardly any clouds, blue skies and a soft breeze. We went down to the beach. A bath towel was lying there, but no soul in sight. Where were all the people? We went back to the hotel. An old man was sitting on the bar, having a couple of shots. We recognized him, as we came closer. He was the man from the bedroom picture. The one with the tatoo on his forehead. He smiled, chuckled - like all the others - but to our surprise, he did speak some English. He was telling us about a place where "everything was happening", where "all the people were going". "Just one, just one" he said absent minded, without any apparent connection to what he said before. "Just one, just one!". "The place isn't far. Just stay left from the trees with the big yellow leaves", were his words. "You must go, You are artists!" We left him alone, while he was going back into his daze, mumbling "just one, just one!"
"Dragon-Towel"
by Ekim
24"x32" on paper
2001
We were leaving to look for the trees, the old man had been talking about. And indeed, there were these trees that looked almost like yellow "rubber-trees". They were marking a way through the jungle. Eventually we heard people who were buzzing around like busy bees. Carrying food and flowers into a building that looked like a temple. Nobody took any notice of us, but somehow it felt like they tried to guide us some place. Smiling, chuckeling and gently pushing us through the crowds. For a second there was some space around us, and one person of our group caught the eye of a lady. Surprised he recognized the towel she had wrapped around her. It looked like the one, we saw at the beach. Serious DEJA WOODOO! We were browsing around a little longer, sat down with some local craftsmen, that were offering and producing their goods on the street. Since our flight was supposed to leave the next day to take us to a different island, we headed back to the hotel soon. Except for our "Lady-man" who wanted to "check out" the temple and come back to the hotel later.





"Chang Ho"
by Ekim
24"x 32" on paper
2001
The member of our group never returned. Nobody knew anything. The local police was smiling, nodding their heads, chuckling "Tjai, Tjai!". We eventaully left, took the charter to bring us to the next island, where we tried our luck with the police again. They - more used to foreigners - went through a burocratic process of filing a "missing person" report with us - that probably landed in the waste paper basket as soon as we turned our backs on them.





Silkscreen
by Ekim
24"x27" on silk
2001


For information on the artwork (including availability) contact us: mmadroom@aol.com