We are all sisters
Machine embroidered images of bees on felt,
lace, felt, needlework
 72 x 84 cm.
2021


“Honey bees are social insects, living and working together as a colony and depending on each other. Each colony has one queen, thousands of female workers, and about 500 male drones. The queen’s only purpose is to lay eggs after her singular maiden flight where the drones perform their sole function of fertilizing her.  Honey bees communicate by releasing pheromone.  That secreted by the queen informs the colony of her state of health and mood and will guide the workers as to what actions to take.  The females, also called the worker bees, collaborate, communicate, protect and constantly perform a myriad of duties. The fate of the colony, depend on their ability to work together and support each other.  It is estimated that one third of the food that humans consume each day relies on pollination mainly by bees.” 
Maria Sezer
artist, teacher and beekeeper


Like the female worker bees, the women in our society carry a large burden to fulfill myriad duties that secure the smooth functioning of the system. Like the female bees, our work never ends and often our fate depends on an ability to work together and support one another.  But unlike the bee community, ours does not have a queen bee and females need a strong ability to multitask since they must also be fertile and give birth. Nevertheless, we are all sisters sharing numerous commonalities during the different stages of life as we move back and forth working both inside and outside our homes serving as role models for and supporting future generations.
All images on this site and their copyrights owned by Nancy Atakan unless otherwise stated. Images are not to be reprinted or reused without the expressed permission.