Parallel Universe
Have you ever thought about the past lives? Have you ever believed in re-encarnation? What if the ones you loved had different lives in the past? This is a project of dreaming and creating imaginary lives and characters for the people in my life very close to me.
Parallel Universe is an ongoing project and new work will be added in time. All characters are fictional but relative to history and past figures. All costumes and props are obtained through various flea markets and antique auctions.
Marie-Françoise Deschanel
Born on the first day of 1910, in the town of Colmar, Alsace, France. Her family has been producing wine and cheese for generations. She could start school after the family migrated to Alsace during World War I.
Her acting talent was discovered by one of her teachers during her teenage years. She was 20 when she attended Universite De Paris with the support of her family.
Her first role was a very small part in the movie La Passion de Jeanne D’Arc in 1928, directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer. After that she worked with the same director in numerous productions.
Although she received many offers from Hollywood producers and film companies whose popularity constantly increased, she did not want to stay away from Paris and finalized her career in France.
Also, her glove and hat style became an icon in French Fashion. Deschanel is known as the symbol of grace and beauty in French cinema.
IRL: Zeynep Günay Bıyıklıoğlu (my wife)
Brizida Berashi
Brizida Berashi was born on 1901 in Tirana, Albania. Her father was one of the richest man in Albania, known with his close trading relationships to Ottoman Empire. Brizida grew to be an intelligent young girl with a socialist political view, kept as a secret from her family.
In 1932, when Italy demanded that Tirana should be controlled by Italian Gendarmerie, she and her friends supported King Zog’s economic movements.
She was one of the brain powers and member of Albanist Communist Party, established in 1941. Until the Italian invasion ended in 1944, Brizida led the party with tactics and strategies.
She was in the marching group into Tirana on November 29, 1944 with the partisans. After that, she was mostly not active politically but kept providing support to the regime. She published two books including her autobiography. She raised 4 children and lived to the age of 96.
IRL: Bedriye Emiroğlu (My grandmother)
Lenka Kramberger
Lenka Kramberger, born in Yugoslavia, was one of the frontiers of Titoist political philosophy. Witnessing the 2nd world war, she was one one the important members of Yugoslavia Communist Party.
As a result of an opposition with Josip Broz Tito in 1946, Stalin infiltrated spies in the party. Kramberger faced tortures and inquisitions during the spy hunt. She kept her cause with an increased credibility after the spy hunt. In 1948, she was shot by a wandering bullet in the cheekbone during a protest. Black tape she used to cover her scar has been a symbol of her character.
In 1950s, she mentioned her concern about gender discrimination against women, while she organized many protests about it.
She passed quietly in prision, where she was placed for murdering a man in a bar called “Sunrise Lounge” on January 18, 1957.
IRL: Ece Bıyıklıoğlu (My daughter)
Matilda Alfano
Matilda Alfano, born 1941 in Sicily, Italy, was the daughter of a wine producing family. She grew up near Alcamo, where her family had one of the largest vineyards.
When she was 18, she went to University of Florence, to study political science with the support of her aunt. Matilda had always an enthusiasm for fashion and found a part-time job near Giovanni Batista Giorgini and climbed the career steps so fast, thanks to her fluent English.
Closing most of the fashion deals with investors from United States, she soon became the figure of Pret-A-Porter coming out of Italy. When Gucci started producing handbags, she helped the design of products and early exhibitions to names like Grace Kelly, Doris Day and Judy Garland.
She spent her primes working for Armani and Versace in 1970s, where she met her husband and had 2 sons.
After retiring, she moved back to Sicily where she still enjoys her retirement.
IRL: Defne Bıyıklıoğlu (My daughter)
Sean Mulligan
Sean Mulligan, born in 1904 in Dublin, has grown up in an orphanage, after losing his mother during his birth. He was expelled from the orphanage after he turned 17 and lived on streets selling newspapers until he was 21.
Following the horse races closely from the papers, he started booking bets in his environment. In 2 years, he managed to grow and gathered many men around him. After buying his first apartment, he started his first whiskey distillation house in Dublin.
Young gang leader whose name was invloved in fixed boxing matches, took place in gun fights with the local mob and police force. In few years, he made deals with the police and invested in legitimate tea and sugar trading.
Losing territory power to the rising Irish Mob, turned most of his bet lobbies and whiskey distillation houses to pubs and bars.
Witnessing both World Wars, was found dead in one of his mantions in 1954.
IRL: Tolga Bıyıklıoğlu (My son)
Alfonso Sastré Fidalgo
Alfonso Sastre Fidalgo was born in Nuevas Filipinas, Spain, in 1821. Spending his childhood on wheels and in tents with a travelling circus, he started participating in shows at a very young age.
After losing his father when he was just a baby, young illusionist dazzled the audience with disappearing acts during his shows. At the age of 22, lost his mother to tuberculosis, which did not have the cure yet at the time.
Devistating loss drove Fidalgo to living in France, where he would not stay long and return to his country at the age of 28. He did not manage to find any family or old friends because the whole circus burned down during a show with the whole crew. This did not stop Fidalgo from performing his illusion with a even more rising career.
Inspiring most the the young illusionists, Fidalgo died tragically with a gun shot coming from the audience during his last performance.
IRL: Tolga Erkoçkar (My brother-in-law)
Princess Varga Mate Maria
Princess Varga Mate Maria, daughter of Karl I, the last Emperor of Hungary, was born in 1910. She started taking piano lessons when she was 6, and violin lessons when she was 8. She had a beautiful voice which she frequently demonstrated in royal receptions.
After the fall of monarchy in Hungary in 1921, her family was exiled to Switzerland, and shortly after to Island of Madeira.
She lived with her family until the death of her father, Karl I, in 1922. In 1932, she gave up her royal life completely and moved to Austria where she managed to find housing and a job as a music teacher.
A few years later, her talent opened the gates of Wiener Volkskonservatorium.
Besides teaching, she composed 3 symphonies, 4 violin concertos and 1 opera telling the story of World War 1, which her father tried to prevent and stop. She married to the cousin of Ferdinand Grossmann and died in Vienna, 1967.
IRL: Tuğçe Erkoçkar (Close relative)
Eva Ondina Ramos
Eva Ondina Ramos, born in Mirandela, Portgual, on 1926. Her parents were farmers and made their living out of agriculture and live stock. She never had any interest for a farmer’s life and started drawing shapes and figures when she was only 7. She was not sent to school and did not get proper education which she claims to be her only regret.
When she was 17, she ran away to France to Paris and started working as a waitress. While visiting France for the Abstraction-Creation club in Paris, Vasili Kandisnky came to her workplace for a coffee and saw her abstract drawings.
He introduced Eva to Robert Delauney and she started working in one of his ateliers. Those who know her told that she has a photographic memory and she never ever grew up and never looked like a grown woman.
Before she died at the age of 47 due to skin cancer, she had this portrait taken to reflect her personality and illness.
IRL: Cansu Işıklar (Close friend)
Radoslav Goranov
Born in the small town of Vinetse, near Filibe, Bulgaria in 1926. His father was a miller and his mother a tailor. He spent his childhood living with his uncle in Filibe.
Started writing poems while he attended University of Sofia. At the same time, he worked in a small leather workshop and provided for his education expenses. He was only 26 when his poem was first published in Harper magazine.
At 27, he married Evgenia, who worked for a government institution. They did not have kids but provided spritual and financial support to many children. In the following years they moved from Sofia to Vinetse, his hometown and lived in a big farm.
He wrote 11 poetry books, one unpublished. Being published in 44 countries, 19 languages, he was one of the most important poets who contributed to both symbolism and modern poetry after the second world war war in communist regime.
IRL: Kaan Bıyıklıoğlu (My brother)
Tatiana Kipiani
Tatiana Kipiani was born in the spring of 1958 in USSR. Originally Georgian, she brought one gold and one silver medal to her country in gymnastics. Being noticed with her extraordinary flexibility at a very young age, Kipiani wired in to gymnastics with the support of her family.
After high school, she moved to Moscow and continued her sports career. She was accredited for summer olympics in 1980 and won the silver medal in asymmetric parallel.
Rising in her career, Kipiani won the gold medal in 1988 South Korean Olympics and took her place in gymnastics history.
With the civil war ending in 1993, she moved to her home land Georgia and married to Otar Dadiani. In 2002, she lost her husband and started living in Turkey with her son Petre Dadiani. She taught physical education in Turkish Schools until she was 48. She lived in Ankara to this day.
IRL: Zeynep Coşkun (Close friend)