WE USED TO ENJOY THE THE MULTI-LAYERED WORKS WITH BROAD PERSPECTIVES FROM THE PAINTER BURCU PERÇIN. LATELY, SHE BEGAN TO USE NATURAL STONES IN HER WORKS. HEREBY, WE MADE AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST ABOUT HER WORKS…
Heval Zeliha Yüksel Mimar / Architect
Ms. Burcu, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Let me start with my education. I studied high school in İstanbul Anatolian High School of Fine Arts and after that, i graduated from the Mimar Sinan University Painting Department in 2002. For me, creating is the most exciting thing. I always felt the need to say and express something about me and the world that we live in. Painting turned out to be the best medium to do this… From the first year of my education, i have been systematically producing works in a self-disciplined way after setting up my own studio. I launched my first solo exihibition in 2005. Since then, i am exhibiting my works in our country and overseas and share them with the audience along with successive solo and group exhibitions..
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You are reflecting the spaces into paintings with different perspectives which interests me as an architect and many colleagues just like myself. I would like to ask for those getting to know you; with what kind of technique you are producing your works?
When i want to create resources for my paintings, i take photos. Spending time and breathing the air in spaces that i am willing to paint is extremely important for me. In other words, my production process begins during the shooting. When i head back to my studio, i’m creating collages from the photos i have taken and i am forming sketches from them. I prefer to use a unique technique comprised of variable and experimental elements. The distance when looking to my paintings is capable to change the perception of my technique. Forms perceived abstractly when looked closely can lead to a photographic acuity, as a part of the whole when moved away a bit. Therefore i can say that my painting give references to both realistic and abstract paintings.
We realize that you usually paint industrial spaces. Is there a specific reason for that?
Yes, the industrial system the mankind created and its complexity have been a subject in my paintings for a long period of time. Mostly, i addressed the gigantic and empty industrial spaces because i wanted to question the problems of absence, environment and the unemployment that is created by the globalization in the industrial system. My focus was environment-oriented so i started off spatial facts.
Related to the previous qustion, are there any stories behind your works?
I am alternating between the natural and artifical world, between culture and technology. It’s difficult for me to ignore the affected environment. Of course, it’s almost impossible to ignore the political background of this problem. Through perceiving the social inequality and exploitation, i am trying to aestheticize them in the depths of my consciousness. Besides, while trying to express the feeling of confinement and isolation in spaces which stands for a major problem the modern man faces each day, i need to remember and evoke the fact that this problem is highly pertinent to the alienation of mankind regarding the nature. So, i focused on the destructions made to the nature in recent years.
Recently, there are series of works you made with natural stones. How was the idea generated? Could you tell us a bit about this series?
For the last two years, i have been working on a series focusing on the demolition ways of mountains by the humanbeing. In these works, there are excavated mountains, stones and marble quarries as primary images. Personally observing the bleakness of these marble quarries in nature, increased my curiosity to realize the organic forms within this deformation and i included plants and human figures inside these landscapes. Other than the ideological dimension of the subject, these landscapes demonstrate a visual richness… These images connect me to the subject in a pictorial fashion and meet my technical quests. The visuality brought by the subject, added geometrical and sculptural forms into my paintings. Afterwards, i started to produce works where i directly used the material itself through feeling the need to absorb the object and material. Three-dimensional works created with the collage mentality by cutting natural stones and marbles have been arisen.
It seems like you transferred your two-dimensional works into three-dimensional ones. Am i wrong?
No, you’re absolutely right. These works are entirely composed based on my own pictorial style. As a matter of fact, i strengthened the pictorial language through interfering in some of them with paints.
Which natural stone do you prefer to use in particular? From where do you provide it?
First of all, i decide the colors of the stones for my sketches. I am collecting these stones by visiting many marble manufacturers in İstanbul and around. Most of the stones i chose generally happens to be marble. Sometimes, different natural stones like granite and travertine can be involved in my works. I try to use the waste stones in these regions as much as possible.
Are there any difficulties in working with stone? If any, how did you overcome these challenges?
Stone is a heavy and difficult material yet it’s really fun and it has a warm energy. On the other hand, it’s also thrilling for me to produce works in a different discipline. Currently, my studio does not have the equipment of a sculpture studio. So, i am producing in the art studios after specifying my sketches. The conditions these spaces and materials bring to the table are not really healthy of course. It’s a matter of producing within stone dusts and polyester smells… I try to protect myself as far as possible by wearing masks and glasses.
Currently, where does your works get exhibited in general?
Right now the x-ist gallery is representing me. I’m getting ready for my solo exhibition created with the cooperation of my gallery which will take place soon in Taiwan and China. As for the next year, i will have a solo exhibition in April at the space of x-ist. In addition to this, there are group exhibitions and fairs i’m participating in. I’m in an existing, intense and pleasant working process.
Thank you for all the information.
