Lupe
Hornbeam, Beech and Oak Wood
65 x 44 x 36 cm
2011
___
May your head never bow
Never mind, my heart, never mind
May no one hear you weep
Never mind, my heart, never mind
— Sabahattin Ali
The Sabahattin Ali poem the artist chose himself for this sculpture speaks not of denying grief but of not surrendering to it. Tomak has carved exactly this poetic interval: the head is bowed, the face hidden from us, yet the body stands firmly upright. The grain of the hornbeam and the beech flows in the direction of this bowing, giving the form the tree’s own rhythm. It is a sculpture not of defeat but of a dignified weariness — of human sorrows borne in silence, and of the resilience to keep standing.