ZEYNEP KARAHASAN
ARTIST STATEMENT
Context is all there is. The challenge is realizing what is peaking through the invisible curtain in front of our eyes and what stays distant to us. Strange, forbidden or dangerous…
Examining, dismantling and re-assembling perspectives is my process. Most of my art is time based and audiovisual, some is still, but they all revolve around the ache that comes from trying to remain aware while presenting what is most personal: narrative. Narratives that source from a melting pot of culture, conflict and collectivism.
Whether working with ritual, video pixels, found footage, or bodily presence, my materials are chosen for their capacity to hold contradiction, to question legibility, and to fracture fixed narratives. I do not seek clean answers, but moments of tension through discomfort, unconvention and unease where seeing, remembering, and feeling are exposed as ongoing, unsettled processes.
PREVIOUS WORKS
Deeper Learning | Audiovisual Installation | 1 minute, 45 seconds | 2024
Both the artist’s voice and the apple images used are deepfake (ai generated). The montage is then projected on three real apples painted white.
Both the artist’s voice and the apple images used are deepfake (ai generated). The montage is then projected on three real apples painted white.
Fez | performance | 60 minutes | 11.16.2024
Located at the entrance of The First Lutheran Church of Chicago prior to demolition, the artist performs a ritual of pulling out her own hair to create a tassel for a fez.
Located at the entrance of The First Lutheran Church of Chicago prior to demolition, the artist performs a ritual of pulling out her own hair to create a tassel for a fez.
Karşı | Opposite | performance/sculpture | 2024
Sitting on top of the Anatolian Fortress on the Asian side of Istanbul, the artist sands the front of her sculpture until it reaches a complete blur. The same ritual is repeated on top of Rumelian Fortress on the European side. Two sculptures are left on two fortresses facing each other across the Bosphorus.
Sitting on top of the Anatolian Fortress on the Asian side of Istanbul, the artist sands the front of her sculpture until it reaches a complete blur. The same ritual is repeated on top of Rumelian Fortress on the European side. Two sculptures are left on two fortresses facing each other across the Bosphorus.
Before her mother leaves US, the artist and her mother are in separate rooms speaking to a recording camera instead of each other. The overlapped footage creates a dialogue out of this separation.