Speech by Heidi Trautman

[jimm127]

Speech by Heidi Trautman
on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition of paintings by Giilseven Coles at
Sacakli Ev Lefkoga on L7th November 2015
EMBARGOED UNTIL 17.30 17th November 2015
Good evening, Friends of Gilseven and art lovers who have come to see what may be behind
the announced title 'My Other World' I feel honoured to have been asked by Giilseven to say
some words of introduction. We have not only been friends for many years but also been
working together as part of the Thursday Art Group and have gone through many experiences
on the art side. I first met her when she worked for her first exhibition on the beautiful inner
life of semi precious stones and also on her following ones over the last years.
She invited me to her studio to see the paintings she has been preparing for this exhibition and
the first impression entering my mind after having seen the 54 paintings she was framing
hersell was a quote by Jules Veme, or rather fwo of his quotes:
The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature. The globe beganwith sea, so to speak; andwho lmows
if it will nat end with it? "
The sea ii e'retything. It covers s€ven lenths of the terceslrial globe. Ifs breath is pure *nd
healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lanely, lor he -feels life stirring on all
sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernqtaral andwonderfirl existence. It is nothing
but love and emotion.
I was a lules Veme Fan in my young days as so many others of you I am sure; he disciosed
for us those worlds *'hich have kept us in awe when we were growing up, especially his book
'20000leagues under the sea' fascinated me.
Giilseven was born in Paphos right next to the sea and its airs and music got into her blood as
she was telling me, the love for the sea has never left her, Even when she lived in England
*'ith her family for 26 years she always came to the island once a year, to the shores of her
childhoo4 to show her children this speciai companion of her yormg days. Wherever she
travelled it was the sea that fascinated her most.
You can realize in her paintings - done in acrylic, oil and water colour - that Giilseven did
some research below sea level, discovering the world of light that reigns, filtered through
layers of water, be it on a suru1y moming when she was snorkeling, a cloudy day or close to
sunset, the atmosphere under flre surface of the water will change rn{t}r &e day progressing.
The underwater world, a kingdom in itself, honoured and greatly feared since the beginning of
our existencg since the first living cell left the sea to face the world above, the amniotic fluid
we once come from. The sea played an important role in the Ancient Times in all cultures of
the world, people gale them Gods and cre&tures and created stories around them and the sea
became a world of wonders and mysteries, feared, loved but respected.
Alas, this is no longer so, says Giiilseven, or our costs and many others around the world you
will find the waste of our modern world stranded, thrown away by negligent people who are
getting it for nothing from a negligent industry going on to produce indestrucfible rnaterials. It
is a statement, she says, she wants to make, she wants to show how beautiful and precious the
sea is and that its dwellers need our protection and our respect. The sea is the lung of our
world and if ue go on feeding it with plastic it will start to suffer severely from it, and the fish
we eat will pass on the poison to us and our children, the poison we have delivered in the first
place.
Yes, Giiilseven, this is a very important message you are giving us, it is alas left to the a*ists
of all disciplines to admonish society to take befrer care of our cultural assets. Perhaps with
some insistance we succeed in reaching open ears of our politicians to stop the littering with
appropriate lau,s.
Thank you, Gtilseven, for reminding us by showing us your 'Other World' you have created
with your brush. .

(Please forgive any typos, this is a direct copy and paste sent from Morton Coles)