Overlapping Summers

About this artwork

Overlapping Summers presents a vibrant, layered scene in which figures, objects, plants, furniture and fragments of space appear to merge into one another. Three female figures occupy the composition, yet none is presented as a conventional portrait. Their bodies are partially obscured, interrupted or overlapped by chairs, flowers, glassware, bags, architectural lines and decorative forms. This creates a dense visual field in which foreground and background are constantly shifting. The painting is built through strong colour contrasts, especially between saturated greens, blues, pinks, reds and yellows. Instead of using traditional perspective, the composition brings different spatial layers onto the same surface. Transparent lines and intersecting shapes cut across the scene like reflections, windows, memories or traces of movement. The result is both intimate and unstable, suggesting that several moments may be happening at once. Everyday objects—wine glasses, flowers, clothing, a camera and furniture—become part of a visual rhythm rather than simply descriptive details. The painting captures the sensory atmosphere of summer: heat, leisure, colour, conversation and movement, while allowing reality and memory to overlap freely.

The idea behind Overlapping Summers comes from my interest in how memory does not preserve experience in a clear or linear way. When we remember a summer, we often recall fragments rather than complete scenes: a person’s clothing, a glass on a table, flowers, sunlight, a conversation, a particular colour, or the feeling of being in a certain place. These fragments overlap and reshape one another over time. In this painting, I wanted to construct a space that behaves more like memory than physical reality. The figures, objects and surroundings are deliberately layered, interrupted and compressed onto a single plane. Rather than creating a stable viewpoint, I use intersecting lines, shifting perspectives and transparent forms to suggest multiple moments existing simultaneously. The women in the painting are present, but their identities remain partially hidden. This allows them to function not only as individuals, but also as carriers of atmosphere, memory and emotional experience. The strong colours reflect the intensity of summer, while the crowded composition suggests the fullness and instability of lived experience. For me, Overlapping Summers is about time, memory and perception. It explores how ordinary moments can accumulate into something more complex, and how the past continues to coexist with the present through images, sensations and emotional traces.