Under the Southern Sun

From 1998 to 2004 I traveled to Cyprus, Syria, India, China, Italy and Czech. I painted on plain air. It was exploration of exotic and immediate encounter and interaction with the world. My most memorable trip was in Syria in 2000. I was there for five months; I called home every two weeks for five minutes from the post office and it was like from other side of the moon. People looked at me and I was for them just a foreigner. That was the time when I discovered that we learn about ourselves through the others' view on us. I could not read my reflection in their eyes, they knew nothing about me, and I found out that I also did not know myself.