Simge Guclu

About

My work explores geometric abstraction and repetitive motifs within spiritual, domestic, and cultural contexts; how they morph with individual experiences and time, getting to exist beyond the mere mathematical representation. This geometric scape, transformed through the body and labor, embodies the tendency to humanize abstraction. Here shape and color is a channel to think through personal and collective histories, gender, and relationships. As an aesthetic and contemplative experience, this curated visual scene sets a meditative space for the audience.

Conceptually and materially deeply rooted in print, my practice emerges from experimental and traditional print-making techniques. The layered nature of print, the textures of ink, the unique characteristics of different print matrices, and the materiality of papers allow me to create visuals that emerge from the print medium itself.

These patterns, cultivated from cultural legacies and modern identities, assemble visually and conceptually expansive pieces. In contrast, the clearness of my descriptive writings can initially seem counterintuitive, yet akin to the sprawling nature of the patterns, these texts carry the repeated habits of different kinds. Drawing from the oral traditions and ‘wives-tales,’ conjuring vivid images and objects, the text pulls the audience to the realm of memory and ephemeral vignettes.

Markers of a culture (architecture, arts, language, histories, etc.) leave their impressions on the ‘self,’ or on a blank paper/canvas, a visual language accumulated over a lifetime, creating a new version of itself, in a forever self-perpetuating cycle. The authority of printed matter paired with the ambiguity of abstraction, and the potential symbolism of blank space, desire interpretation. Guided by the text, the audience is hosted in a geometric scape, invited to form their subjective response to it in a conversation.