Gallery Siyah Beyaz is opening the 2017 season with painter Figen Cebe’s exhibition titled “I see red … I mix up black …”. The exhibition combines Cebe’s works from the exhibition “I see red …” which had previously been exhibited in Istanbul, with the new series “I mix up black …”. Believing in the significance of the artists’ sensitivity on the contemporary issues, Cebe reflects her thoughts this time behind the black. The artist, who gets the black color from the mixture of different colors, also enlarges the sizes of the canvases in this exhibition; hence give an opportunity to the audience to observe her technique’s delicacy in detail. The frequently subjects seen on her works such as light, time, and motion merges with the paint, technique and shadow and presents them to the viewer. Cebe, whose works can be identified as repetitive; mentions that each painting reveals different results depending on the time it was made likewise the meanings and thoughts she attributes every time.
MELIS GOLAR : The title of the exhibition is “i see red… i mix up black / je vois rouge… je broie du noir…” In French there’s also a connotation of being angry, pessimistic, and grieving. How is this exhibition title, which evokes hopelessness, reflected on your works?
FİGEN CEBE : we’re going through tough times; not just in Turkey, but around the whole world… ever since i was a child there have been civil wars, cold wars, revolutions, coups both in Turkey and around the world… but we could always hope that there would be progress; that wars would be over, that there could be a fairer world order, that there would be peace… in short, there was hope… globalization; along with the internet’s aid the fall of the USSR, helped the capitalist system to go wild; it gained a momentum at a dizzying speed and the most recent economic crisis brought the world into this state… i have been living in many countries mostly in Turkey, France and England throughout my life therefor i follow various happenings around the globe very closely, i am dread of the direction in which we are headed; and i am hopeless… at first i got sad, however I could not get sad for some time passed, i am just very angry and pessimistic… i think because of the gravity of the situation, my logic has taken control… normally, i am an optimistic person; i definitely look to find the bright side of things, and focus on those… even though it’s hard, i still try to do it… i think my paintings reflect that conflict… apart from these, i was devastated by the loss of two people i valued so much, and held so dear to me; first Yaman Kayıhan, then Faruk Sade… while i did the latest paintings, i kept on seeing Faruk… my works have always been impacted by a mix of my thoughts and my psychology… they reflect the colors and the ambience of my thoughts… the symbols and the imagery i use; depict the message i want to convey… they help me pick up the pieces of me that had been scattered around for various reasons… the titles of the previous exhibition and this one came out naturally by themselves as the paintings were completed, in French; i did not need to look for them…
M.G. : You have emphasizing that; “Abstraction is an easy way to express deep realities… When, which is inside opposes to what is seen from outside, my paintings reflect an inner world,”; you are opening up your inner world to us with your art. You sometimes put your imagery and symbols into focus with apparent objects, other times you hide abstract silhouettes within the flickering beams of light. The use of light also makes references to life itself. Do you select your imagery randomly or could it be said that these are choices where your inner world becomes concrete?
F.C. : it takes a long time for me to focus and decide what i am going to do… i will then do some small sketches, make the drawings onto the canvas, play around with them… my conscious and my subconscious pass along to each other while i choose the imagery and the symbols… after making these choices that i am sure with the aid of my instincts, i don’t question them… so my answer lies within your question… in summary, just as you’ve said, the light, as well as the imagery and the symbols make references to life and to the world itself and these are the tangible results of random choices of my inner world…
M.G.: There is a series of paintings in the exhibition where you have obtained “black” without using black paint, by only mixing different colors. Is your refusal to use black paint, a state of denial of the darkness?
F.C.: in my paintings, i have only very rarely ever used black paint out of a tube… what we perceive as black is actually only the darkest state of various colors… so, i prefer to mix the black that i find most suited to the atmosphere i want to create, myself… i prepare different mixes for a warm black and a cool black… i do not reject darkness; the presence of light is only remarkable in the best of darkness… both visually, philosophically and psychologically…
M.G.: Your paintings are comprised of thin layers of paint and you mention that your technique requires every layer to be completed before the paint dries. This partially makes time management you spend on your paintings important. Is there a performative aspect in your technique in regards to your interaction with your work?
F.C.: i can say that there is such an aspect within the process… after getting the sketch to its most favorable state, i enter a phase of trance, both physically and mentally, with the paint… my eyes both see and do not see… it’s like getting lost in the details of the painting by focusing on the paint and the brushes and the technique of close applying… although the brushes try to obey the orders from my brain as extensions of my arms and hands, both the brushes and the paint declare their independence and bring surprises… i follow the traces and wait in curiosity… i continue painting without taking any breaks, until a whole layer is done before the paint dries up… i can not see what i have accomplished before i take a step back… in this process, time management is very important, the paint has to stay wet… there are materials that delay drying but i want to achieve the desired texture without using them…
M.G.: In addition to your previous exhibition “i see red…” series, this time in this exhibition we encounter a new, black series. The subjects of your works seem to build on top of one another and perhaps alters through the spirit of time and gain new meanings. Additionally, not only on your paintings but also in your writings, I see a similar attitude of your frequent use of ellipsis (…); in which you avoid to put a full stop at your sayings, it’s as if you refuse to end what you’re telling us. Can you mention about how life’s continuous and never-ending motion affects on your art?
F.C.: i give a great importance to thought and the act of processing it…i make up my mind after hours of reading, thinking and re-evaluating… if i am quick to make decisions, it’s usually because i’ve thought that subject through… this doesn’t mean that “i do not make mistakes”… but, at that stage of my life, that decision is the most appropriate one to me and my personality… i don’t feel regretful later on; i live what i have to experience… it’s been in that way about arts as well, and it continues to be in that way… every person is a unique being, none are alike… it’s important to me when i continue to create original works that emerge from a mixture of my personality, my experiences and my story…originality, sincerity, honesty, naturalness are the aspects i value the most in people, in life and in art… even though we pass through different chapters in our lives, these chapters are all connected like the links of a chain; none stand apart… art and life are similar to each other… and so, like the links of a chain, there is a natural connection between my pieces of work…in fact, there are series of paintings that i use the same image…i have told the reason for this many times, but i will repeat again… although each of my paintings drawn and painted by hand with no transfer techniques, almost similar colors used, the result is always different from each other…i love the compositions small or large differences constituted between each other these series form with the small differences between them…when it comes to the “ellipsis”; i don’t like using the “full stop,” it’s rough to me … even death, nothing has an absolute “full stop”… and there are so many things to say in every subject… using a “full stop” to my words or my writings, create a sense of adding an absolute value to them… and i don’t like anything that is “absolute”… alternation, adaptation, soft transitions seem much suitable for me… they give me peace… and apart from proper nouns, i dislike capital letters… i ask that it be this way in this interview as well…
M.G.: In one of your interviews you talk about your interest in other mediums and that you consider going into video art in your future work. Are we going to see such a surprise in your next series?
F.C.: i have always wanted that, for years, i’ve been thinking about projects unfortunately i could not start one yet… i must admit, the reason of this is that i’m going to need some technical and technological support…i won’t promise, but who knows?
M.G.: Are there any developments in our country or from around the world, that you feel as controversial and evaluate as negative or one that you find as an improvement, a positive decision, in terms of art politics? What do you think about the reasons behind these situations transpiring these days? Where does Turkey stand in terms of your example?
F.C.: the relationships between art & capital, art & political/religious powers have always been very intimate, very visible… the ones who hold the capital, have always used art as a sign of their power… Turkey, in this regard, is still a mere pupil, a simple apprentice cycle… its past is short, its today is “limited, restricted”… sometimes there are progress, though too many obstacles… additionally, without getting into detail, starting from the students of “fine arts,” artists, art historians, gallerists, collectors, anyone concerned with art need to educate themselves, need to be educated, and this education needs to be sustainable… as an example on the subjects of “education” and “women and women’s rights” (i do not say “female artists” intentionally), i’d like to quote a Turkish collectorwho literally told me “i don’t buy artworks from female artists, because women; they get married, they give birth, they go through menopause, etc, and do not continue working”… art is a part of life… it’s impossible for it to stay far from the realities of the country and of the world…
For more information; https://galerisiyahbeyaz.com/tr/gecmis/galeri-siyah-beyaz/2016-2017/kirmizi-goruyorum-siyah-karistiriyorum