Ody Saban
Istanbul, TR, 1953 Works and lives in Parijs
Odette Saban lived in Turkey, Israel, Egypt and the United States of America. She is a well-known outsider artist in Europe and beyond. A retrospective exhibition of her work was held in the French Musée de la Création Franche in 2000.
Nature and eroticism are central themes in Ody Saban’s colourful ink drawings. They portray a magical world filled with women and love-making couples. The space around them has been decorated with many miniatures and ornaments. Saban’s visual language is organic and fluid: flowers serve as eyes, cheeks turn into lakes and landscapes become bodies. People and nature blend into each other in an Oriental atmosphere reminiscent of Saban’s Turkish origin.
The visual artist was raised in Paris by her mother and stepfather, an Islamic amateur musician who restored painted and glass miniatures. He had a major influence on Saban’s artistic development, just like the ancient Turkish embroidery that her Jewish mother collected. This mixture of cultural influences is clearly reflected in Saban’s work.
As a lonely and imaginative child Saban created her own worlds. From a very early age, she has experienced wakeful dreams and semi-controlled hallucinations. Over the years, these experiences have become increasingly powerful. She uses them visually in her drawings.