"My stuff should be touched," says Isik, running his hand over the craggy back of a toothy fish hanging on the wall of his studio. "The paintings aren't sacred."

Yet he feels every character represents a part of him or things that he's wanted to be. Sometimes he's that sly gator, Red Riding Hood's wolf, or, on more visceral days, the Chihuahua nestled between Jayne Mansfield's breasts. A new jester juggling glued-on marbles will make an appearance at Isik's October exhibit. Periodically, other clowns and fools have appeared in his paintings since the first in 1989.

"What I'm doing is entertaining myself and the public with my works," says Isik. "And that's what jesters do."

~End~

A version of this story first appeared in the Columbus Guardian on October 3, 1996.
This story is © Tracy Zollinger Turner, it cannot be reprinted without her express, written permission

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