Gökçe İrten
Tile maker
Istanbul, Türkiye
Tiles of interconnectedness
- Gökçe's contemporary ceramics fuse 3D clay with geometric visual storytelling
- Her work is featured in the permanent collection of the Odunpazarı Modern Museum
- Her philosophy explores the tension between individual boundaries and collective memory
Gökçe İrten creates public murals and abstract gallery installations using hand painted ceramic tiles as modular building blocks. She uses distinct tile fragments to build large and interconnected cityscapes that frequently feature a rich palette of blues and greens. “The 3D expressive language of art has always fascinated me. It stems from my childhood habit of playing with modelling clay,” she says. Gökçe is a graduated from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University ceramics and glass design programme, and the department of visual arts at Sabancı University. Her unique ceramic style led to a debut solo exhibition called Muhit at Istanbul's Mixer Gallery in 2017. “Ceramics offer endless learning opportunities,” she explains. “It is not possible to master the material completely. There is always an element of mystery that keeps the work exciting.”
INTERVIEW
I held my second solo exhibition, Personal Layers, while I was six months pregnant. As part of the exhibition, I was required to paint a wall, an experience that was both challenging and therapeutic. It felt like a rite of passage: it bridged my former life with my new one. I believe this feeling elevated the exhibition itself and the memory of this solo show.
Society and the individual lie at the very centre of my practice. The notions of social consciousness, individual awareness, the formation of a whole from its constituents, and induction have fundamentally transformed my work. My first solo exhibition Muhit studied the nature of neighbourliness and the awareness of what transpires in our immediate surroundings.
In ceramics, the final result takes time to reveal itself. Patience is something I continuously practice. I sometimes use technology to visualise and articulate my ideas to people I collaborate with. I also hope to produce a series that brings my pieces to life and allows viewers to witness the butterfly effect of our stories.
There are things I question and want to remind people of, such as the importance of self-acceptance. If we do not make mistakes, we would not be our current selves today. In my work, I remind viewers of their different selves. We are in a magnificent transformation within this large-scale natural progression. This existence is a celebration.
Gökçe İrten
Tile maker
Istanbul, Türkiye
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
PHONE
+90 5326419545
LANGUAGES
Turkish
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