in and out
Utilizing a range of material and media, my work is marked by biographical elements, ranging from personal everyday anecdotes to family photographs. These elements reflecting on the common bonds and borders of family and society are transformed into political and social images that questions my own position as a female artist based in Turkey. For that reason, my practice, over the last two years, has been concerned with traditional Turkish handcrafts techniques, focussing on religious iconography and gender representations.
Based on an old photographic image, the project In and Out (2015) focuses on the family as a microcosm of Turkish society. The image of a young couple embracing is transformed into a sculptural installation formed by two curtains, one featuring the image of the woman and the other of the man, both parts rendered through patchwork and embroidery. In the work, the stereotypical image of romantic love is literally broken up in the middle by the two curtains, a cut that creates a sense of ambiguity, disturbs nostalgic feelings and questions the formation of collective memories. The decision to work with a personal image places me in(side) the very structures of family and society that I am seeking to explore, while the reimagining of the image as a sculptural installation reflects the attempt to break out of such institutions. This inside and outside dance around the nostalgic image of a couple in love becomes the starting point and the playground for shaping and reshaping a self-portrait.