ARDEN + WHITE presents DAYBREAK, a solo presentation of entirely new works by Brooklyn-based artist Senem Oezdogan. Oezdogan is a multi-disciplinary artist whose creative range spans the realms of painting, drawing, and fiber art. Her work delves deep into the alluring visual phenomena of optical illusion, expertly employing color, form, and contrast as her tools of investigation.
Oezdogan’s seamless gradients breathe life into bold shapes, stirring a captive interplay between the logic held by the viewer’s mind and the perception of their eyes. Overall, the artist’s spatial compositions brazenly challenge conventional notions of foregrounds and backgrounds, which results in a complete reorientation of visual perspective.
Her artistry pushes well beyond optical illusions with its survey of structure and ability to translate shapes into form, form into volume, and volume into emotion. What remains in the wake of this transfiguration is an intricate web of geometric abstractions resembling anthropomorphic and biomorphic connections that reverberate allusions to the corporeal body, the natural world, and marvels of architecture.
Oezdogan’s new floral series voyages forward with the artist and her practice at its helm. The acrylic on canvas pieces capture figurative elements of plants and flowers in perennial motion. The works in this solo exhibition shed light on dynamic undercurrents invisible to the naked eye.
“A microcosm with constant activity and change where each element affects and supports each other”
Embedded in these three-pronged paintings is a perfect blend of structural harmony, subtle nuances, and playful exploration, captured with a controlled color palette. Taken from nature but altered through magnification and distortion, these subjects claim their individualities commanding a presence that is akin to structure-like, stand-alone forms.
For Oezdogan, a crucial element in the creation of these works is the process of collage. As forms are torn apart and rearranged the end result is a plethora of new shapes and contents that coexist and give rise to a new visual reality a metamorphosis of what was once familiar takes place.
DAYBREAK is an entrancing journey through Senem Oezdogan’s capacity for conjuring perception, emotion, and transformation onto canvas with apt precision. ARDEN + WHITE invites you to visit the exhibition open 15 September – 15 October.
