“…the mountains we climb are not only made of rock and ice, but also of dreams and desire. The mountains we climb are mountains of the mind.” — Mountain, documentary

Breath Monuments is a body of work dedicated to life and the environment, and honoring the connection between all things through breath.

Breath Mountain, a central piece in this series, is both intimate and grand. Created in synchronicity with the breath, each mountain is made of hundreds upon hundreds of marks stitched into fabric or painted onto paper. Signifying hundreds of breaths and hundreds of moments. Delicate handiwork that grows into a symbol of strength, achievement, and overcoming barriers.

After coming through repeatedly in meditations, I began this work in 2019. I, like so many, am enthralled by mountains. Mountains are a sacred earth that climb into the sky accessing the divine and higher realms. Viewed as holy, majestic and powerful, but dangerous and hostile if attempting to climb. This work is a monument to the breath, a symbol of life, in a time when we are being faced with a respiratory crisis, in body and earth.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Filiz Soyak is an interdisciplinary artist exploring themes of consciousness, memory, and time through intuitive mark-making in painting, fiber and installation. Motherhood transformed her to be present and simplify. Mindfulness practices including meditation and breathwork have become integral to her work, as has communing with nature. Her work is created in synchronicity with her breath.

Soyak was born in 1979 in Belgium to a Turkish father and Swedish mother. She spent most of her childhood in Japan, before moving to the United States in her teens. After living in the Middle East and Caribbean she landed in New York City for several years before moving up to Hudson with her family in search of a slower, more conscious and grounded life. Soyak’s work has been widely exhibited and collected internationally.

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