As a woman from Turkey, I believe that although parts of Turkey are modern, the country’s Islamic, rigid roots do not allow Turkey to fully evolve into a contemporary culture. The traditional Islamic culture separates man and woman, tearing apart a woman’s body and psychology. In this male dominant society, the Man, who perpetrates this violence, still manages to see himself as the victim. For example, rapes go unpunished because it is the woman’s fault for swaying her hips as she walks or appearing too beautiful, too much of a temptation. A woman’s body is simply a lusty invitation the man “has to” accept.

Why does a woman’s body have such power? Why is it seen as such a temptation? How does it move? What makes the same flesh and bone of man and woman so different? What does she propose that he does not? My art is an investigation of the invitation that the female body extends to the male. I explore the body through color and line, tearing it into parts and pieces using latex, plaster, rice, string and glue. I place the sculptures into stage settings. The materials I choose have vulnerabilities and strengths, similar to the human body.

I am inspired by Kiki Smith who’s many sculptures are of the female body in different postures, textures and by Carolee Schneeman and Marilyn Minters who show the body and the grotesqueness that comes alongside the beauty.