Irfan Eken
Why can't I connect them?, 2026
Acrylic ink & Sumi ink on cartridge paper
84.1cm x 118.9cm
Artist statement
My work explores my struggle with personal and forgotten memories across generations. The work begins with me entering my past which goes against the laws that separate memories. As I introduce memories of my homeland and its people I then desperately attempt to connect them. However, the effects of diaspora, forgotten memories and the fragility of my own memories make this merging a futile attempt. How are our memories different from one another up to the point where it is impossible to connect them? How am I different from them?
Photographs: Anna Kucera
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
