Labirent Sanat is delighted to announce the solo exhibition Primordial Soup by Sabire Susuz, opening on September 13, 2025.
One of the most frequently invoked metaphors for the origin of life is the idea of the “primordial soup.” This soup marks a first moment where countless molecules, energies, and coincidences simmer together—where there is no apparent order, yet infinite possibility. At its core, the “primordial soup” is “chaos,” but not a barren disorder; rather, it is a moment of potential birth. Life itself sprouted from this very state of disarray.
When we consider the artist’s sense of self, we encounter a similar dynamic. The artist’s identity begins as a psychic soup of scattered materials, foreign experiences, inner impulses, and social codes. Just as the random collisions of molecules eventually evolve into structured forms, the artist’s mental soup gradually clusters around symbols, images, and forms. Here, chance is not merely blind coincidence but a space of encounters between the artist’s unconscious and what is gathered from the world. In these encounters, a “self” first appears: the artist comes to recognize herself through the images she creates, tracing her own presence within the forms she invents.
The emergence of personality echoes the long, winding process of the universe’s creation—an arduous unfolding that can be observed within a human lifetime. Bringing together the chaotic elements of experience to present a meaningful image or sensation shares the existential character of the primordial soup: the capacity to generate order from chaos, meaning from chance, and being from uncertainty.
RNA molecules multiply through replication, and with each replication, they differentiate and transform by natural selection. The structure of the proteins carrying information within DNA resembles the connective abilities of our minds, optimizing inner organization through the control of the cell membrane so that resources may be used in the most effective and efficient way. I liken the spontaneously forming, self-replicating “primordial soup” to an artist creating a self-portrait: transforming mental energy into a tangible image, copying her own likeness. Each self-portrait, like a cell membrane, organizes and embodies the biological presence of the mind. Replication becomes an evolution of difference.
In short, the potential of the “primordial soup” to reflect the universe’s ability to emerge spontaneously is also evidence that such processes can be activated within our minds on the path to self-realization. Just as we cannot form subjectivity without surrendering to life’s chaotic tensions, the “primordial soup” may also be seen as a metaphor for creativity itself.
We invite you to Labirent Sanat between September 13 – October 25, 2025, to explore the relationship between one of the most powerful metaphors of cosmic origins—the Primordial Soup—and the works of Sabire Susuz, which reflect her self-practice during the years 1996–2005.