Artist Statement
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My work renders visible the complexities of human life—the intimacy of relationships, the depth of emotions, and the significance of ordinary experiences. Whether through painting, drawing, or textile-based installations, I aim to create work that resonates on both personal and collective levels, transforming the familiar rhythms of daily life into spaces for introspection, empathy, and aesthetic engagement. By situating viewers within these narratives, I invite them to encounter the ordinary as extraordinary, to engage physically and emotionally with the work, and to reflect on their own connections and experiences. In all of my work, the exploration of narrative, relationality, and the human condition remains central, guiding my ongoing inquiry into the ways art can articulate, preserve, and celebrate the subtleties of human experience.
Since the inception of my artistic practice, I have been deeply engaged with human relationships, emotions, and the subtleties of everyday life. Central to my work is storytelling—capturing fleeting moments, intimate connections, and fragments of lived experience that illuminate the textures of human existence. These concerns are often explored through the depiction of friends and family, whose presence provides both personal resonance and a lens through which broader social and emotional realities can be examined.
My paintings and installations emerge from close observation and immersion in the rhythms of daily life. I typically begin without a predetermined plan, allowing sketches, photographs, and spontaneous gestures to guide my process. Objects and interior spaces are as significant as figures themselves, with deliberate attention to placement, scale, and interaction. Empty spaces and flat surfaces often emphasize the figures and objects simultaneously, creating a dialogue between subjects and their environments. The gaze of the figures functions as an invitation to the viewer, establishing an immediate sense of relational engagement. I intentionally embrace the direct gaze in my work, rather than shy away from it, using it as a tool to enhance the viewer’s engagement. The encounter between the viewer’s gaze and that of the figures within my pieces functions as a bridge, cultivating a deeper relational connection and inviting the audience to experience themselves as an integral part of the artwork. Color, whether applied intuitively or consciously, conveys emotion, atmosphere, and the dynamics between individuals, reinforcing the narrative of the moment captured.
Recently, my exploration of friendship and human connection has expanded into textile-based installations. I begin by photographing friends, creating large-scale drawings and sketches. Then I translate these compositions into stitched drawings on tulle. The transparency of tulle resonates with the qualities I associate with friendship and deep human bonds, such as openness, honesty, and vulnerability. Multiple layers of stitching can be perceived simultaneously, producing a spatial and visual complexity that mirrors the intricacy of personal relationships. The fabric’s material quality to experiment with depth and layering in a way that painting alone cannot achieve, transforming memory and emotion into tactile, immersive forms.
These experiments led to the development of box-like “shells” that function as participatory environments. Initially monochromatic and minimal, the shells evolved to incorporate color, multiple walls, and grew in scale, inviting viewers to enter, move through, and physically engage with the work. Rather than observing from a distance, audiences are encouraged to inhabit the space, encountering memories, moments, and emotional traces from within. These structures operate as portals into lived experience, translating intangible feelings into tangible forms while encouraging interaction and reflection. In this way, the shells extend my broader interest in relationality and narrative, offering viewers an embodied encounter with the themes of intimacy, memory, and human connection.
It is worth mentioning that the concept for the tulle box “shell” — referring only to its outer form — originates from an object in my own culture, traditionally used as a protective enclosure against insects during the warm seasons, allowing people to rest inside it on balconies or in courtyards. Inspired by its structure, I adopted this form within my practice, reimagining it as a safe home that shelters my personal memories. The panels installed within the shell act as narrative surfaces, each recounting fragments of my own lived experiences.
In parallel with these installations, my painting practice continues to explore narrative and human experience. I often depict interiors that are both specific and abstract, places that are simultaneously nowhere and everywhere, where ordinary objects share importance with the figures who inhabit them. I stage scenes using photography and mental collages, freezing moments in time to highlight the significance of everyday life. This approach reflects my interest in capturing the ordinary while emphasizing the extraordinary emotional resonances that exist within it.
Women and their lived experiences occupy a central place in my work. By depicting their gestures, emotions, and interactions within ordinary contexts, I examine questions of identity, gender, and societal dynamics, while also reflecting on my own position as a woman in the world. These explorations inform both thematic and formal choices, guiding the balance between figure, object, and environment, and reinforcing the relational and narrative elements of my work.
Literature and poetry have profoundly shaped my artistic perspective, reinforcing my focus on storytelling and narrative construction. They inspire me to consider art as a dialogue between lived experience and representation, capturing not only visual impressions but also the emotional and psychological dimensions of human life. In literature, I have been profoundly influenced by Dostoevsky, and in poetry, the works of renowned poets from my homeland, including Hafiz and Rumi, have had a lasting impact on me. Across media, I embrace experimentation, spontaneity, and creative freedom, approaching art as a space for exploration, rule-making, and playful discovery. In this way, the act of creation becomes both a personal inquiry and a shared invitation to audiences, translating fleeting moments, relationships, and memories into immersive and reflective experiences.