karatasceyda@gmail.com
Ceyda Karatas
b. 20 December 1989, Istanbul, Turkey
Lives and works in London, UK
Education:
2017-2019 MA Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, UK
2014-2017 BA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, London, UK
2013 B.A., Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
2009 Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey
Statement:
My aim in my current practice is for the work to create a feeling of intimacy and sensuality through an evocation of the themes of life-force, desire and attraction. I am interested in breaking the coded classifications of living things, making very delicate paintings, which intermingle different traits of nature and the body. This is a symbolic diffusion of boundaries, tied to the desire to transcend divisions of the conscious mind. I like to imagine the body as a garden where seemingly separate organic elements are in cohesion and interdependence, forming an integrated composition together. This gives a feeling of emancipation as well as connection in terms of surpassing the isolated borders of the individual and creating a sense of wholeness.
I have a desire to create organic forms that have a subtle alterity and ambiguity, which confuse our notions of difference rather than determining them. My hybrid forms aim to create a sense of metamorphosis, which is not a static condition but a state of becoming. This state of the in-between belongs to the realm of eros, as it binds several others in one body.
In my works I strive to create a sensually pleasurable world of harmony, with a sense of craftsmanship, attention to detail and appetite for form. I have a long process of preliminary drawing, which includes imagination and arrangement of the forms and composition. In the final paintings, this pleasure of control and order is inherent in the precise lines, applied with fine brushes and ink. By smooth layering of pigment with coloured pencils, I intend to create soft and silky surfaces, reminiscent of skin. I want to explore the almost sculptural, tactile potential of forms, attempting to create a sense of bodily lushness and volume through tonality and shading. Currently, I work on paper since it provides a delicate surface, which suits my interest in realising the materiality and fragility of the body. The slow process of painting with gentle touches on smooth paper surface is similar to caressing, which is tied to the feelings I want the work to evoke.