gözde ilkin

gözde ilkin

artSumer is proud to present “Please Clear the Dance Floor!”, the first solo exhibition of Gözde İlkin at this gallery.

Gözde İlkin creates her work on fabric, canvas, paper, and found objects. She embroiders her stories, either by hand or machine, on these surfaces with black and white or colored thread. These bodies create an atmosphere for the surface on which they find themselves and look for an identity via the texture of the fabric. Emancipated from their social and sexual identities, the characters are transformed in İlkin’s work like the children of a lost planet. They resist their pre-conditioned lives.

With this exhibition, entitled “Please Clear the Dance Floor!”, Gözde İlkin illustrates the milestones in life, such as weddings or circumcisions, that are celebrated with social gatherings. She focuses, however, on the absurd social positions at these events. Highlighting the weight of tradition on social occasions, İlkin points out the roles which subconsciously come into play: bride, husband, host, mother. Her works reference the accumulated debris of generations: old photographs, worn-out handkerchiefs, patched cloths. İlkin’s threads stitch together familiar familial stories, revealing the ties that bind us together.