Ethereal Vision

The Soul of the Artwork

In Turkey, the nazar is everywhere. On doorways and windows, around the necks of newborns, hanging from the rear-view mirrors of taxis, and on the rigging of boats. It is a circle of blue — protection against the evil eye, against envy, against the force of an admiring gaze that carries too much heat. It is one of the oldest continuous symbols of the Mediterranean and Anatolian world, and it belongs to Turkey the way the maple leaf belongs to Canada or the cherry blossom belongs to Japan.

In "Ethereal Vision," artist Gamze Haberal took this ancient symbol and asked what would happen if it were painted rather than cast — if the protective circle was made not of glass but of silk and pigment, not manufactured by the thousand but created once, individually, by hand.

The answer is nine forms scattered down the length of the shawl in a loose, unhurried diagonal: each one a tear-shaped eye drawn in fine black ink, its interior filled with concentric washes of color that radiate outward from a golden yellow center — through lime green, through turquoise, to the palest aquamarine at the outer edge. The ink outline of each eye extends into two fine curved lashes at its pointed end — a detail that pushes the form simultaneously toward the nazar, toward the peacock feather's ocellus, toward something more ancient than either: the eye of a goddess, perhaps, or the sun as seen from underwater.

No two eyes are identical. The yellow center of each is a different size. The turquoise field expands differently in each one as the pigment meets the silk. Some sit slightly tilted; others look directly forward. They are distributed across the white ground with the natural irregularity of a protective charm — not in a pattern, but in a placement.

Nine eyes. Nine individual paintings. One shawl. This specific protective gaze exists only here.

The Luxury of Pure Silk

The concentric color field of each eye — from warm yellow through green to turquoise — requires a ground that can hold multiple pigment densities in circular proximity without muddying. 100% pure 9-momme mulberry silk provides exactly that: each wash radiates outward from the golden center with the transparency of watercolor on the finest paper, the silk's own luminosity activating the yellow from beneath and giving the turquoise outer field its characteristic glow. The fine ink outline of each eye holds its precision on the dry silk — the lines barely thicker than a hair, the curves as clean as the edge of a blown glass bead. The white ground between and around each eye is the silk at its most present: warm, alive, glowing — the light the eyes are protecting.

Why This Artwork?

"Ethereal Vision" is for the collector who carries culture consciously — who wears objects that carry meaning as well as beauty, who understands that the most powerful accessories are those that connect the personal to the historic. The nazar is Turkey's most recognized symbol globally, beloved far beyond its origin — worn by designers from New York to Paris, adapted by artists across every medium. Here it is in its most refined form: hand-painted, in silk, by a Turkish artist in Bodrum, each eye a singular act of creation rather than a reproduced motif.

It is also, more simply, one of the most visually captivating pieces in the collection. The combination of fine ink line and radiant color field produces a quality unlike anything else here — closer to scientific illustration or illuminated manuscript than to traditional textile design. It rewards close examination. It holds the gaze it depicts.

The edges are finished with a fully hand-rolled hem, executed entirely by hand — the quietly protective final act of a work designed throughout to offer exactly that.

Bespoke Details for the Discerning Global Collector

• Product Code: GH 11

• Dimensions: 75 × 200 cm

• Material: 100% pure 9-momme mulberry silk

• Inspiration: The nazar — Turkey's ancient protective eye symbol — reimagined as a painted form

• Technique: Fine ink outline with concentric watercolor-wash color fields; nine individually painted eye forms in diagonal scatter composition

• Palette: Golden yellow, lime green, turquoise, aquamarine, ivory white, black ink

• Finish: Hand-rolled hem — couture stitched entirely by hand

• Exclusivity: One original work. This specific scatter and coloring of nine eyes is unrepeatable

• Origin: Hand-painted in Bodrum & Istanbul, Turkey

• Care: Gentle hand wash in cold water with silk-specific detergent; air dry away from direct sunlight. Pigments are permanent and light-fast. Professional dry cleaning is also suitable.