My work The Place I Always Carry With Me is an installation in which childhood memories become an architecture of light and fragility. A chandelier is a familiar symbol of home, comfort, and safety. By exaggerating its scale, I transform it into the center of a space filled with glass spheres.
Each sphere contains an object from my childhood—a fragment of personal history suspended in time. One of them holds a key that I used to hide under the doormat whenever I went outside to play. For me, this object is not only a memory of home but also a reminder of trust in the world and a sense of security. Another sphere contains a doll that was given to me as a brunette. As a child, I painted her hair blonde myself. This memory still reminds me that reality can be transformed and that almost anything is possible.
Glass simultaneously protects and separates: it preserves memories while making them unreachable. The light passing through the spheres creates a play of reflections and shadows, mirroring the way memory itself works—revealing and concealing images of the past. The oversized chandelier becomes a metaphor for our attempt to preserve what can never truly be returned to.
The installation emerged from my experience of migration, a condition shared by millions of people today. When you find yourself in another country, the structures that once provided stability begin to dissolve, and the only constant that remains is memory. Childhood impressions, family traditions, one’s native language, sounds, smells, and gestures—all of these elements form what I call an “inner home.”
I believe that these memories become our foundation, our inner support system, and a lifeline when life carries us across different countries and cultures. In this sense, the objects preserved inside the glass spheres are more than souvenirs; they embody values, experiences, and sources of strength that continue to shape us throughout our lives. The key recalls trust and security, while the transformed doll speaks of imagination, agency, and the belief that change is possible.
The Place I Always Carry With Me is an attempt to build such an inner home—a space where fragile fragments of the past can be preserved and transformed into a source of resilience. The installation invites viewers to slow down and look closely at the light of memory, at the personal stories that usually remain in the shadows yet continue to define who we are, wherever we may be.
