18 Sep 2014

Yaşam Şaşmazer at BERLINARTPROJECTS

BERLINARTPROJECTS presents Yaşam Şaşmazer's solo exhibition Metanoia, shown in Germany for the first time.

The sculptures, being beautiful and dark at the same time, make it hard for the observer to remain uninvolved, as the figures captivate him and draw him into their cosmos. Every figure creates its own closed cosmos, engaging in a private, even intimate interaction with its own shadow, making the spectator feel like a voyeur becoming a witness of inner revelations. With the title Metanoia the sculptress refers to a psychological phenomenon und with it to C.G. Jung. He uses the term to describe the process of re-forming the psyche as a form of self-healing during a psychological breakdown or existential crisis, meant here as a potentially productive act, in which transformation and change can take place. The conflict of the artist with the topic of the shadow is underlying a process of growth and transformation itself. For a long time she worked on depicting children, characters who had already been in touch with the dark side of human mankind and who in their childlike ways seem uncanny, weirdly mature and knowing.
The playful traits of the characters have now disappeared, the figures having become older and using a different approach to life's issues. They encounter their shadow, confront it and fight, the dichotomy between children and parents therefore having been replaced. Just as the concept Metanoia has a positive connotation with Jung due to his element of inner transformation, the figures struggling with their dark sides are strong and full of life. The artist shapes the space with her works, not only do her three-dimensional works take up and form a certain space, but she also includes the space conceptually, often changes works and adapts them according to the circumstances. Each of her exhibitions is an individual installation. The spectator on the one hand becomes part of the interaction, as he enters the space and positions himself to the figure. On the other hand he always remains an outsider, as the depicted situations are closed, the figures turned away and engaged in inner thought. Therefore the spectator becomes a voyeur, witness to an ambivalent act that draws him closer without enabling him to become a part of it.

YAŞAM ŞAŞMAZER, born in Istanbul in 1980, now lives and works in Istanbul and Berlin. Yaşam Şaşmazer studied sculpture at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts Istanbul and graduated in 2006 with a master's degree. She is considered one of the most promising Turkish artists of her generation.
Şaşmazer began her career by creating sculptures of childlike figures. The body, its gestures and postures were always at the core of her work, her delicate characters are carved out of wood. From the very beginning her work has been influenced by psychological thought and theory. In 2011 the sculptress extended her range by now creating more adultlike figures. The sculptures in her first series Doppelgänger (2012) are all portrayals of the artist.
Yaşam Şaşmazer's works have been shown at art fairs and in various cities such as London, Dubai, New York, Istanbul and Berlin. She has had both solo and duo exhibitions in Germany, for example at Künstlerhaus Marktoberdorf (Doppelgänger, 2012), Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst Trier e.V. (Translations, with Ulrich Riedel, 2011), Kunstverein Elmshorn (Sculptures, 2011), AK 68 (Bunt gemalt & rund gehauen, with Bodo Rott, 2011), Brühler Kunstverein für Hagenring e.V. (Eigenartig vertraut, 2011), BERLINARTPROJECTS (Doppelgänger & Should I really do it?, with Ismail Necmi, 2013; It's so complicated, 2010), in London, UK, at the Aubin Gallery (Illuminated Darkness, 2011) in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Ҫağla Cabaoğlu Gallery (Strangely familiar, 2009) as well as exhibitions in various other places. Group exhibitions have been staged at Akbank Sanat (Autonomous and Beautiful, 2014), Hall Arts (Plural, Poetic, Ironical, 2013), both Istanbul, Saatchi Gallery (Confessions of Dangerous Minds, 2011), London, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery (Heroes & Villains – Summer Group Exhibition, 2011), Dubai, UAE as well as at various biennals, for example Xingjiang Biennal (2014), China and Luleå Art Biennal (2007), Sweden. Her work has been shown at art fairs such as JustMAD, Art.Fair21, Scope Art Show in New York, Miami and Basel, Contemporary Istanbul, The Solo Project, SWAB Barcelona, Munich Contempo, Art Karlsruhe and can be seen in various collections.