"Fluid Stories," presented as a parallel exhibition to the 18th Istanbul Biennial “The Tripod Cat,” brings together the works of Alla Güner and Ege Subaşı. The exhibition explores the similarity between our world and our bodies through the lens of water, inviting viewers to contemplate both the delicate balance of ecosystems and the layered structure of the self.
Every surface carries time and its invisible traces. The Earth exists not only as the soil we walk on but also through the memory of water, which maintains its fluidity. Similarly, the human body is both a carrier and a recorder. Fluid Stories makes this connection visible through the practices of two distinct artists.
Alla Güner, in her "water maps" created from the seas and water bodies surrounding Turkey and Japan, points to the delicate balance of ecosystems. Her works translate the geopolitical, ecological, and climatic transformations accumulated in water's memory into a layered, fluid, and permeable visual language. The traces carried by water reveal not only the fragility of geographies but also that of global life.
Ege Subaşı, on the other hand, carries this sensitivity inward, to the body and soul. Her artistic practice revolves around self-awareness, the self, and existential inquiries. In her approach, defined by the metaphor of the "Veil of Mist," moments when external influences blur perception and the essence becomes invisible are revealed. In her portraits, faces shift, figures become indistinct, and memories remain incomplete. Her figurative language, oscillating between clarity and blurriness, makes visible the fragmented nature of the subject and the fluctuating balances of the inner world.
"Fluid Stories" brings together, on the same plane, the traces Alla Güner reads in the outer world, on the surface of water, and the balances Ege Subaşı discovers in the inner world, in the body and soul. This encounter reminds us that the earth and the self, nature and humanity, the external and the internal, are not separate from each other.
Every surface carries time and its invisible traces. The Earth exists not only as the soil we walk on but also through the memory of water, which maintains its fluidity. Similarly, the human body is both a carrier and a recorder. Fluid Stories makes this connection visible through the practices of two distinct artists.
Alla Güner, in her "water maps" created from seas and water bodies, points to the delicate balance of ecosystems. Her works translate the geopolitical, ecological, and climatic transformations accumulated in water's memory into a fluid and permeable visual language. The traces carried by water reveal not only the fragility of geographies but also that of global life.
Ege Subaşı, on the other hand, carries this sensitivity inward, to the body and soul. Her artistic practice revolves around self-awareness, the self, and existential inquiries. In her approach, defined by the metaphor of the "Veil of Mist," moments when external influences blur perception and the essence becomes invisible are revealed. In her portraits, faces shift, figures become indistinct, and memories remain incomplete. Her figurative language, oscillating between clarity and blurriness, makes visible the fragmented nature of the subject and the fluctuating balances of the inner world.
"Fluid Stories" brings together, on the same plane, the water maps created by Alla Güner based on the traces she reads in the outer world, on the surface of water, and the balances Ege Subaşı discovers in the inner world, in the body and soul. This encounter reminds us that the earth and the self, nature and humanity, the external and the internal, are not separate from each other.