Deniz Say Extraordinary Touches to Sustainable Art
Extraordinary touches to sustainable art
Painter Deniz Say, known for her abstract expressive works made by transforming waste, meets art lovers in her fifth exhibition at Art 212 Nişantaşı between February 26 and March 4. Everyday objects, ordinary objects, which are mostly used and thrown away, come to life again on the artist’s canvas.
Painter Deniz Say’s fifth solo exhibition will take place at Art 212 Nişantaşı between February 26 and March 4.
When and how did you first start painting? What were the factors that led you to art?
Painting has been an important part of my life since my childhood. It was like a friend that I told my feelings and thoughts to, that entertained me when I was bored, that relaxed me, that I established a pleasant intimacy with. It was as if I was telling him and he was telling the whole world…Even though life took me in different directions over time, he never left my side. And one day, this pleasant friendship turned into my job that occupied almost all of my time. Of course, the efforts of my esteemed teachers Altan Çelem and Güneş Özmen made the biggest contribution to this journey. In addition to the painting education I received from them, I also received a lot of education in the field of art history for many years. It gave me great excitement and inspiration to set out by seeing the works of the masters, to see their lives, how they coped with the difficulties and how they transferred it to the canvas. This is how my art journey began. I have opened 4 solo exhibitions so far, participated in many fairs and group exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. My 5th solo exhibition will meet art lovers at the end of February.
What do your paintings, your works tell about? Which techniques do you use?
I paint in an abstract expressive style that attracts me with its ability to free emotions and allow them to be expressed in a unique way. I use collage and assemblage techniques while creating my paintings, which are all three-dimensional and densely textured. “If paint is a means of painting, of adding reality to our impressions of the outside world, an ordinary material can also become a means of artistic expression.” Actually, this was the starting point of my art adventure. I use objects that have been produced for a specific function to create different textures and depths, breaking the usual perception patterns. In fact, I abstract ordinary, everyday objects from their functions by freezing them on canvas. It really excites me to give them a different identity and make the viewer think about them. An important point to mention here is that the objects I use to create texture and space are all “waste” materials.
When and where did you first get the idea to work with waste? What kind of waste do you use?
I always looked at the objects we call waste in a different way. For me, they were objects that were waiting to be reincarnated, impatient to be the beginning of a new story. So the time had come for many of the materials I had been collecting since my childhood that I couldn’t throw away to be thrown into life… What were these wastes? Various kinds of paper and fabrics that flowers are wrapped in and that most people throw away; nets around bottles; cardboard and cardboard used for packaging; unused clothes and shoes; glasses that many of us throw away at the end of 3D movies at the cinema and many more. I think we throw away a lot of materials that have not yet completed their lifespan. As we all know, one of the biggest problems in the world today is sustainability. We are consuming everything very fast, every day we produce more and more garbage that the world can no longer handle. So, what do we do to prevent this? Of course, each of us has a job to do individually. In this sense, I am trying to make a small contribution by “upcycling” objects that would otherwise be thrown away, giving them a place in the artistic environment and proving how beautiful and useful they still are.
“If paint is a means of painting, of giving reality to our impressions of the outside world, an ordinary material can also become a means of artistic expression.”
What are your sources of inspiration? How do you start producing?
I get my inspiration from the waste materials that I come across in my daily life in one way or another. The moment I see them, I think, “How about setting sail for a new life? First you will find your place in an artistic composition, then you will be blended with layers and layers of paint, you will be watched over and over again to be in harmony with the basic elements of the painting such as color, shape and texture, you will change, and finally you will take your place on the wall of an art lover as part of the work”. I start with the object that makes me feel this. Apart from this kind of waste, I am also very inspired by nature. The tree barks, branches and moss I collected myself have also found their place in many of my paintings. The construction of the painting and the formation of the layers is spontaneous and the most enjoyable stage for me. Colors and forms come into play later. My studio is in Beykoz. I have always designed the houses I have lived in until today to have my studio inside. It is important for me to know that I can reach my studio whenever I want. Thanks to my home-workshop, I can run to the workshop with excitement at any time of the day and night when I have an idea.
Can you tell us about your exhibition? What will we see in the exhibition?
It will be my fifth solo exhibition. It will take place between February 26-March 4 at Art 212 Nişantaşı. In addition to my abstract paintings that I created using waste materials, there will also be pieces from my series called “Torn”. The paintings in the “Yırtık” series are works with 3-dimensional tears on the canvas, harboring feelings of curiosity and excitement for the unknown, the invisible.
