“Şafak Şule Kemancı is an interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Istanbul. They earned their undergraduate degree in textile design from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, followed by a master's in art at Goldsmiths University of London. The artist's works have been showcased in several venues across Istanbul, London, and San Francisco.

 

In their recent works, Şafak envisions an erotic queer ecosystem where the boundaries between plant, mineral, human, and animal become fluid. They mold this ecosystem by stretching the potentials of materials. This envisioned space, belonging neither to a specific time nor place, invites the viewer to journey between the artificial and the natural. It is a realm where exuberance is welcomed, and motion never ceases.

 

In Şafak's creations, there is an intense endeavour right at the point where consciousness flows and the mind commits to a performative process. Repeating patterns, textures, figures, and segments are seamlessly integrated. These repetitions can be likened to plants that constantly bloom again and again in the queer ecosystem the artist has long been observing."

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Text by: Fisun Yalçınkaya