Shîr + Agir

Salaam! This is my first body of work since giving birth to my son, Hîwa, almost one year ago. This year has felt like everything, all at once, all the time. There has been grief, for the world and the collective, for the life I had before, the person I was before, and an understanding that life is ever-changing. I’m learning to accept that I can love this new chapter so deeply, in ways I never dreamed of, while still missing parts of the one before. I’m grateful for it all, and will probably be in processing mode forever.
The world is also changing, more rapidly every day. Each day I feel both hopeful and hopeless, simultaneously, wondering what’s next, wondering about the world my son has entered. I think a lot of us are. Shîr + Agir means “milk and fire” in Kurdish. In Kurdish culture and literature, the mother is both the literal matriarch of the family and a metaphorical matriarch of the nation, often tied to concepts like homeland, language, and resilience. Being a mother in a time where resistance feels so important, nurturing while trying to navigate it all, I wonder daily how can I show up, for my son, for the future ancestors, for the collective. Earth is remaking herself, and all of our souls chose to be here during this time. Our ancestors are with us, the way that one day we will be with our sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, and their future babies. Even on the hardest days, may we remember that a new world is possible. We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams for a reason. And may we always remember our humanity.
I hope yawl like this collection. I loved creating it, and finding a way back to this part of myself. 
A special thank you to my mom Bayan and my mother in law Maria for helping me with Hîwa so I could work on this collection, I appreciate yawl <3.
Love and gratitude always, Sayran