I am very honored and pleased to receive a thoughtful and kind invitation from Professor Özlem Uyan, Lecturer, Ph.D. at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Fine Arts – Graphic Design Department in Turkey to be 1 of 99 designer-illustrator artists invited from around the world to create and submit artwork for the “DARDANELLES 99” INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL ILLUSTRATION EXHIBITION to celebrate the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye.
The “Dardanelles 99” International Invitational Illustration Exhibition will be held at the Karina Sea Culture Center of the Municipality of Çanakkale in Türkiye on Saturday, October 29, 2022.
While I was working on this illustration for “Dardanelles 99” International Invitational Illustration Exhibition, I wanted to capture the spirit of the Dardanelles Strait as being a pivotal moment in history of great strategic importance because they link the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea and provide the only seaward access to the ancient city of Constantinople (Istanbul).
I combined and integrated part of the upper part of a human form in a somewhat obscure way purposefully within a stylized and somewhat loosely drawn and abstract map focusing in on the Dardanelles Strait from a faraway perspective to give my illustration of it the deep pensive, lively, intense and mesmerizing epic-like feeling I feel this important historical moment requires in order to help express the symbolic meaning behind this historical moment in a visually intriguing impactful, dynamic and mysterious way.
Title: Remembering the Dardanelles Strait (version 2)
Illustration by Anson Liaw
Facebook links to review 2 videos for the “DARDANELLES 99” INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL ILLUSTRATION EXHIBITION:
https://www.facebook.com/ozlem.qx/videos/5777039925642495
https://www.facebook.com/100083848916893/videos/734141324330499/