“UNDEFINED EXISTENCES” EXHIBITION BY PELİN KİLİMCİ
Artopol Art Gallery is preparing to host Pelin Kilimci’s solo exhibition titled “UNDEFINED EXISTENCES”. Open to visitors from January 12–27, 2023 at Artopol Gift Gallery in 42 Maslak, the exhibition aims to provide a unique experience for its audience.
In her creative journey, Kilimci’s ceramic and glass sculptures transform into biomorphic, amorphous forms. She instinctively keeps objects entirely undefined and identity-less, encouraging viewers to assign meaning and names to the works themselves.
“I wanted to preserve my creations without defining them, freeing them from material constraints through their undefinable state. Therefore, the only details I provide are the production dates and raw materials. By leaving the form undefined, I invite the viewer to discover endless new variants.”
Within these concepts, Pelin Kilimci focuses on how humans exist in the world, emphasizing individual free will, choice, and personal responsibility. This approach concerns the self and the search for life’s meaning. The realization of the emptiness of inner existence manifests objects and images as appearances of the mind, ultimately connecting us to a “pure state of consciousness.”
Throughout history, humanity has tended to define all living and non-living entities around them. For example, when meeting someone, the first questions often are their name and origin. Even when a new ethnic group migrates to a region, local communities may react with fear and instinctive behavior toward the unfamiliar. Even domestic animals like dogs and cats are named and claimed due to our inner need for identification and ownership.
Today, interests in digital and four-dimensional spaces reflect humanity’s inclination toward new worlds and new modes of existence. Kilimci, conversely, highlights the objectification of existence to emphasize a more concrete, grounded sense of belonging.
Pelin Kilimci completed her undergraduate studies in Ceramics and Glass at Mimar Sinan University. In 2009, she pursued a master’s degree in “Art Theory and Criticism” at Işık University, focusing her thesis on “Space and Material Understanding in Contemporary Sculpture: Anish Kapoor.” During this period, she worked with esteemed professors such as Prof. Meriç Hızal and Prof. Halil Akdeniz. She completed her doctorate in “Art Science” in 2018 at the same university with the dissertation titled “Reflections of Microscopic Images in Art in Turkey and the World.” Kilimci has exhibited nationally and internationally and currently teaches as an assistant professor at Beykent University.
Curated by Dilara Orhan, Pelin Kilimci’s solo sculpture exhibition “Undefined Existences” can be visited from January 12–27, 2023, at Artopol Gift Gallery, 42 Maslak.
