Gözde İlkin

Gözde İlkin works on found domestic fabrics such as tablecloths, curtains, and bed sheets etc. that are representative of social identity, social processes and that have become objects of memory. Her motifs and drawings on fabrics depict today‘s cultural information, political and social relationships and gender issues. She traces nature to discover ways of belonging. Her forms that are inspired by the nature track the healing and transforming effects through plants, animals and humans drawn closer together.

Gözde İlkin (b. 1981, Kütahya, Turkey) completed her undergraduate degree from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University painting department in 2004 and her graduate degree from Marmara Fine Arts Faculty painting department in 2012. 

Selected solo exhibitions include Stand Alone and Altogether  at artSümer Gallery in Istanbul (2019) As the roots spoke, the cracks deepen MAC/VAL Val-De- Marne Contemporary Art Museum, Paris (2019) Organized Habitation Galerie Paris- Beijing, Paris, The Trap at Gypsum Gallery in Cairo (2016) Stained Estate at Françoise Heitsch Gallery in Munich (2015). 

Selected group shows include 13th Gwangju Biennial, under the artistic direction of Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, South Korea (2021); The Event of a Thread: Global Narratives in Textiles, Istanbul Modern Museum (2019); 15th Istanbul Biennale A Good Neighbour Curated by Elmgreen & Dragset (2017); Spaceliner Curated by Barbara Heinrich at Arter Istanbul (2015); Hyper Real The Passion of the Real in Painting and Photography Curated by Susanne Neuburger and Brigitte Franzen at MUMOK Vienna (2010)

She has participated in artist residencies at the MAC VAL Museum, Vitry-sur-Seine, Paris; Pioneer Works, New York; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris and Künstlerhaus Bremen. İlkin was part of the artist collective, Atıl Kunst, between 2006 and 2013. Lives and work in Istanbul.

Photo credit: Elif Kahveci