“One man’s trash can be another man’s treasure”
Artist Deniz Say’s works met with the audience on October 26th at the Turgut Pura Foundation Exhibition Hall as part of the Izmir Culture Road Festival. “On the Edge of Tomorrow”, where 27 works consisting of 2 different series are exhibited, will be open to visitors throughout the festival.

Izmir leg of the Turkey Culture Road Festival started on October 26th. The 15th stop of the festival, which will be organized in 16 cities across Turkey, was Izmir. Deniz Say, who took part in the Izmir Culture Road Festival with her works, presented her painting exhibition “On the Edge of Tomorrow” to the taste of art lovers. The artist, who deals with producing without consuming and consuming in the age of consumption, brought 27 works from the “Torn” and “Collage Assemblage” series to the audience. The exhibition, curated by İsmail Erdoğan, will be open at Turgut Pura Foundation Exhibition Hall until November 3.

How did you start working in the field of painting? What is the importance of the training you received in your art?
Deniz Say: “If paint is a means of adding reality to our impressions of the outside world, a means of painting, an ordinary material can also become a means of artistic expression”. This was actually the starting point of my adventure. I started to produce abstract paintings using collage and assemblage techniques by blending the materials I have accumulated throughout my life and filtered in my own life with layers of paint, creating layers.

Stating that the art of painting has been an important part of his life since his childhood, the artist said: “I started by studying figurative painting, and my style evolved into abstract painting later. I think the fact that the basis of painting is actually mathematics overlapped with the education I received at Boğaziçi University. In addition to painting, the Art History education I received also contributed to me significantly. Setting out by seeing the works of the masters, analyzing the works and movements in depth has significantly increased my excitement and desire to paint.”

You have exhibited your works in many solo and group exhibitions. Would you like to talk about your work and your art practice?
Deniz Say: I have opened 9 solo exhibitions so far. In addition to these, I have participated in many international and domestic fairs and group exhibitions. Sharing the works I produce with people through exhibitions and receiving feedback in this way has definitely affected me positively in terms of motivation.

”I paint abstract expressionist paintings.”
”I paint abstract expressionist paintings, this style of painting attracted me with its ability to free emotions and allow them to be expressed in a unique way. Of course, abstract covers a very wide area, I chose to make abstract paintings with waste materials instead of using traditional art materials. Abstracting ordinary materials, everyday objects from their functions and making them part of the artwork, distorting the perception of these objects in the eyes of the viewer, has been my source of excitement from the very beginning. By including those objects in my paintings, I wanted to prove to the viewers how beautiful and useful they still are…”

In your art, you work with waste materials that you consider as “waiting to be reincarnated”. How do you address the concept of sustainability in an artistic context?
Deniz Say: “Sustainability” is defined as meeting the needs of today without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. This is actually one of the most important problems of the world today. Thinking that the world has unlimited natural resources, humanity has realized in recent years that an infinite consumption approach is not possible. We all have a job to do to prevent this rapid consumption and the subsequent production of garbage. In my studio, there were many materials that I had been collecting since I was a child, which I could not throw away, and about 12 years ago the idea of transforming these materials into works of art emerged. Thus, I felt that I had done my part by “upcycling” objects that would otherwise be thrown away, even if it was a small contribution, by giving them a place in the artistic environment and producing works sensitive to environmental awareness.

”…they continue their lives with the different identities they have acquired”
“What I use are actually ordinary materials from everyday life. Tulles and fabrics that flowers are wrapped in and that most people throw away; nets around bottles; cardboards and cardboards used for packaging; unused clothes, shoes; glasses that most of us throw away at the end of 3D movies at the cinema and many other materials find their place in my paintings and continue their lives with different identities they have acquired.”

What kind of an exhibition awaits art lovers?
Deniz Say: As in all my solo exhibitions, in this exhibition, the works that I have produced with the perspective of “some people’s trash can be some people’s treasure”, in which the concept of “upcycling” is the main theme, meet with the audience. The exhibition will include 27 works from 2 different series.