Mother Continent

About Mother Continent

This contemporary abstract outdoor painted steel sculpture is figurative.

Ferhat Özgür Görel’s bold and graphic “Mother Continent” is a powerful homage to the oldest inhabited continent in the world—Africa, where humans have lived for more than 5 million years. This hand-forged steel sculpture is designed as a whole to personify a human silhouette. But the details—in form and colour tell a more complex story. The largest geometric shapes intersect at angles to one another. Viewed separately, they are meant to depict two of Africa’s iconic animals—the elephant and the camel. Curated markings in red, blue, orange and green are the colours found in many flags of African countries and symbolize the rich cultural heritage. A small green circle with a black disk inside is the figure’s eye. The one blue teardrop falling below it suggests the historical pain of the African people. A shiny silver diamond-shaped object balances on the top of the sculpture and stands for Africa’s natural riches—the ‘underground wealth’ that has been taken from the continent.

“Every aspect of the design carries a deep meaning regarding the history, culture and richness of Africa. While the holistic form of the sculpture depicts the human silhouette, when you look at the details, it contains shapes representing different geographical and cultural elements of Africa.” Ferhat Özgür Görel

Ferhat Özgür Görel was born in 1990 in Arvin, Turkey, near the Georgian border. He studied painting in a Fine Arts program in high school for four years in Ankara. At the Anadolu University Faculty of Fine Arts, he specialized in Sculpture from 2008 to 2013. After completing a nine-year art education in 2013, he began participating in international organizations, festivals, and symposiums. Görel’s dynamic sculptural work has been showcased in thirteen different countries. Görel has created 21 sculptures for public spaces in France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Russia, South Korea, Egypt, Italy, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Belarus, and Canada.