Labor of Her Hands,
Light of Her Eyes
Conceived as an artists’ book and an exhibition in the evocative setting of Eldem Art Space Dalyancı Mansion, Labor of Her Hands, Light of Her Eyes leads the visitor on a journey, starting from the site of the find and continuing with an exploration of the found objects and how they can speak to us, with or without words. The book and exhibition are supported by SAHA Sustainability Fund.
The project includes the idea for a book inspired by and documenting handmade items found in a construction dump during a nature walk. Handmade clothes, silk fabrics for dowry, embroidered clothing, photographs, documents and letters found under the concrete pile. The book aims to reveal a character in the light of these finds: a woman living in Turkey in the middle of the 20th century, who is making her own clothes and preparing the dowry chest. With this semi-real/semi-fictional character, supported by personal articles, documentation and fictional biographical texts, we aim to shed light on the beauty and dignity of traditional handicrafts, and to revive a life and talent.
Labor of Her Hands, Light of Her Eyes by Maury Vaughan and Melike Taşcıoğlu Vaughan
Eldem Art Space, Eskişehir, 18 November 2023 - 21 April 2024. Book design by Melike Taşcıoğlu. 17,5 × 24 cm, 160 pages, ISBN 978-605-82087-3-5. Produced in a limited edition of 220.
Daire
The idea for Daire germinated during lockdown. Becoming obsessed with cleanliness, I purchased a steam cleaner and found myself looking at the egdes, corners and deeper dimensions of the walls and floor in my apartment. The cleaning frenzy turned into a very disciplined investigation of new landscapes in the living space, and the observation of man-made borders. The story ended with a novel abstract proposition of personal space to replace the concretely-defined readymade.
Daire. Book and solo exhibition by Melike
Taşcıoğlu, 2020. Are Projects, Antalya, 27 June-27 July
2020.Present Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect Continuous takes its title from the grammatical tense of unfinished action — something that began in the past and is still going on. It is the tense of love stories that refuse to end, and of stories we keep telling ourselves. The exhibition is an experiment in sequential narrative. A “simple” love story unfolds frame by frame, punctuated by pauses that shift between reality and abstraction. The viewer moves through the sequence at walking speed — quickly, the way we scroll through images every day — and the story is over almost as soon as it begins. But for those who slow down and return, the frames open onto a deeper end: the emotional undercurrents, hesitations, and self-reflections beneath the surface of the everyday.
Present Perfect Continuous. Solo exhibition by Melike
Taşcıoğlu. Casa Matei Gallery (University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca), Cluj-Napoca, 12-18 September 2019.The Sistematic Investigation of Matter and Existence
The exploration of life has been a subject of
science. Inspired by the diagrams and schemas, the formulas, mathematics and complex
explanations, these series of works under the title Systematic
Investigation of Matter and Existence use the aesthetics of these formulas and
graphics, while exploring life and matter in its own artistic approach.
10 works, each 68×98 cm. signed and numbered, edition of 70, offset lithography on paper, 2015.Sudan Seyyareler (Aquaspheres)
The Aquaspheres series have an innovative approach that alteres traditional ebrû technique and combines it with digital printing. On the third exhibition of the continuing H2O series, “Aquaspheres” solo-exhibition opened in Gallery İlayda Karaköy, İstanbul urban plans are used the basis on the majority of the works.
D-10
D-10 is a single work, using space of creation as the starting point and questioning the term home. This work was created on a lithography stone that was coded D-10.
D-10, 35×50 cm. lithography on paper, edition of 10, 2013.
The Frontal and Side View of Life
A simple quantum landscape. Using a rather technical graphic language, it explores beyond what we see with our eyes to portray a field.
The Frontal and Side View of Life, 15×21 cm. woodcut on paper, edition of 100, 2012.
Rendezvous
A series of works created with the theme of meeting, getting together, bonding, getting along, making out, creating new life. Exhibited in Soyut Gallery, Ankara.
︎
Untitled, 70×50 cm. engraving on paper, edition of 2, 2012.
H2O
The H2O series have an approach that alteres traditional ebrû imagery by using a traditional method to create abstract and contemporary look. Here, “the moment of creation” is explored. The water as the main medium is used to create and capture the ink. Ink on water is applied to paper several times and on top of digital prints to enhance the “experiment” feel. Every piece of work is unique and only few are exhibited after a careful selection among hundreds of works.
︎
Untitled, 35×50 cm. black and white digital print and ebrû on paper, 2010.
Layout Plan (Vaziyet Planı)
This work takes a closer look at the prejudice of the layers of thought, the areas of perception, the melancholy of internal conflicts, which we actually know from someplace we don't see, but still are familiar of. An abstract cross-section of the situation and location is witnessed. Starting from the rich aesthetics of the lines in the layout plans drawn from the bird's eye view, the inner-eye view of the mind and perception is viewed almost like through a microscope.
Vaziyet Planı, 170×90 cm. black and white digital print on paper, 2011.