Larissa Araz, 1990

Born in Istanbul in 1990, Larissa Araz began her undergraduate studies at New York University and completed her degrees in Media and Visual Arts and Sociology at Koç University in 2014. Photography lies at the center of the artist’s practice, though she also works across writing, video, and sound. Engaging with themes such as history, identity, memory, and belonging, Araz explores memory through personal narratives and invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries of this field.

“Begin to See through the Darkness” draws inspiration from a fig tree growing inside a cave. What makes this tree remarkable is that it sprouted from a fig that was the last meal of Ahmet Cemal, who lost his life during the 1974 war near Limassol in Cyprus. Nourished over time by sunlight filtering through the top of the cave, the sprout grew into a tree that marks both what remains of the war and a grave. After encountering this story in a newspaper article, the artist traveled to Cyprus, and the journey itself became part of the work. Araz interprets Ahmet Cemal’s story through images of light, cave, and shadow. In the installation, which reflects on the relationship between the human body and the earth, a silhouette representing the fig tree appears on the floor. Positioned beside it is a photograph of the cave composed of four panels, each the size of a coffin. Aiming to make the absent visible, the installation sheds light on those lost in the war and on the traces that war leaves behind, drawing from the story of Ahmet Cemal.