HAND-SAWN SILVER COASTERS

Artist Statement

Having been born and raised in Istanbul, Türkiye, I sense the necessity of combining the old world and the new world in my work. I choose to use Ottoman Empire textile motifs in my work because of my background in Textile and Fashion Design. Although Ottoman art was very extensive in both two and three dimensional artwork, I only use the two dimensional motifs in my work because I love the abstraction and the radial patterns. The motifs that I most often use in my artwork are derived from natural plant forms through stylized drawing of bird’s eye view of a flower. I believe that when the simplicity and symmetry of the motif combines with textured and colored metal, it creates objects that connect history to the modern day. I also use vitreous enamels to add color to my metalwork. In my work, visual aspects are as important as the concept. For this reason, besides being conceptually strong, I make my metalwork well crafted.