20 years of learning and working in various positions in architecture, urban and spatial planning fields shaped my way of thinking and seeing. It is only logical that this industry finds references in my artworks as well.
The Open edition collection “Stone City” is the most direct example of this. Cities are a great driving force and centers of development. Although the urban environment has the full potential for improving the quality of life, we do not always keep up with it. Today, most of the world lives in cities. This number exceeded the 50% mark in 2007. Our grandmothers and grandfathers grew up in a world where only up to 30% of people lived in urban areas. They were also the ones who experienced this rapid urban boom.
“Stone City” is the story of this time, which started in the last century and still continues today. This is a story about how a person adapts to the urban environment. Perhaps that is why I thought it appropriate to create these works in Mid-century style and colors, which were relevant in their youth and have now returned to our interiors and design again. At that time, together with the boom of cities, geometric forms, minimal ornamentation, and priority to function also entered art. The Bauhaus movement with radically simplified forms was a bright driving force of that time and the philosophy is still relevant in various contexts even now. Also, the question of a person’s place and well-being in the city is still relevant.
Living in the city is quite different from living in the countryside. In the country, we can have quite a lot of personal space. The scenery around us also allows us to look into the distance, and it is easy to merge with the whole world. There are no strict boundaries. Whereas in the city, you have to deal with an environment that is more others than yours. It is solid and diverse, with its own structure and order. To feel safe and comfortable in it, you must know it well, create the structure for yourself and set the boundaries. You must choose where you let yourself in and where you keep your distance.
A person creates the environment around him for better, more comfortable, and pleasant living, but no matter how much he devotes time and energy to it, he must also devote time and energy to adapt to the existing conditions and situation. Every year, the list of changing conditions grows. The ability to adapt becomes more and more essential. Even the strongest and most responsible ones, those who have taken it upon themselves to be the creators and developers of their environment, a part of themselves also works with adaptation to the environment. Their advantage is that it happens consciously and purposefully.
Being closer to nature, fitting happens more naturally, it is almost to the level of instincts. When living in an urban environment, adaptation must be more analytical. “Stone City” gives abstract visual examples of these adaptation patterns where there is mostly a clear logic and order with small out-of-balance elements that represent our distinct internal perception. It is like an empirical and subjective model of personal space combined with a real physical structure.
Each abstract shape in this collection symbolizes a block of the city or a part of its structure. These parts are not purely geometric, as seen on the map, because people do not perceive their environment so strictly. These forms are accompanied by a social and emotional structure, making them more diverse than ordinary rectangles. Together these shapes create a composition, allowing us to find a suitable and understandable space, our own personal structure.
Mostly in my works, I began from a starting point where I apply certain forms and symbols to abstract concepts, ideas, and feelings. In this case, it is the other way around. A concrete, real scheme, and model are modified to include senses.
“Stone City I” represents the oldest urban model, which has a very dense structure and was formed around squares of a certain function and with a distinct block system, which was typical even at the beginning of the last century and earlier.
“Stone City III” describes the city of our century, where transit lines and reachability networks become decisive.
“Stone City II” is more sense than the layout. It is a story about perfect personal balance with purposefully created individual stability by combining and arranging the available forms and structure.
For those who have been living in cities for several generations, another task becomes superior. It is a return to nature and one’s instincts. That’s another story, but I have something to say and show there too. In this case, you might be interested in my Ocean Stones collection.