Project

The motifs I use remain a reference to my ongoing struggle for feminism, even when my personal experiences temporarily put that struggle under pressure. My artworks are an intimate expression of the double life I lead within my family, and form a mirror of two extremes: conservative Turkish culture and a progressive, modern perspective. By simplifying traditional motifs and images, I question the conventional image of the "Turkish woman." I explore the tension between my family's values and my own pursuit of freedom. Motifs from traditional clothing, headscarves and tablecloths form the basis of my visual language, which I combine with self-designed patterns and influences from abstract art — particularly the work of Matisse, whose use of color reminds me of my culture. The choice for unprimed canvases with rabbit skin glue and oil paint symbolizes the rawness of my experiences. My color palette — red, green, ochre, ultramarine and brown — evokes memories of Turkish tradition and simultaneously creates an emotional landscape. My work is both a personal expression and an invitation to reflection: on identity, duality and the search for harmony between tradition and modernity.