Gazing towards the concrete, uncanny horizons
and the land where waters
flow backwards
My fingertips follow the line that consists of
an infinite number of points
…
How do landscapes (both territorial and cultural) shift as carriers of cyclical time? Can we translate volatile geographies into architectures of memory? These are amongst the concerns Hera Büyüktaşcıyan delves into in her exhibition On Stones and Palimpsests, marking her second solo at the Gallery. Looking at territorial divisions and historical ruptures in different cities across time, she unravels these unstable spaces across a series of drawings, sculptures and video.
Buildings, stones, city maps, and objects are brought to life in Büyüktaşcıyan’s work. She is interested in how our senses can connect to the personal and collective recollections of spaces we haven’t encountered, spaces that bear witness to violent eradication. For her, the built environment, in its lines, cracks and tears, and embossed, fossilized forms, is akin to a living organism; it charts an archaeology of identity.
Her work is often focused on silenced histories, and their re-tracing within architectural memory. In acts of map-making and mark-making, she creates a materiality of space. Exploring notions of representation through the contradictory relationships between erasure and reconstruction, past and present, the imperceptible and the material, the artist evokes images that defy the very disappearance she is questioning. This encompasses the destruction of whole environments, communities and cultural heritage, which she reconstitutes in architectural forms, topographic drawings and aerial views.
Live tours and an online webinar program will accompany the exhibition. Further details will be announced on our website and social media platforms.