ŞİİR ÖZBILGE: CHILDREN SPEAK THE TRUTH!


Siir Ozbilge has been working and carrying out workshops with children since 20 years. Ozbilge states that especially based on her experiences with bicultural, monolingual kids abroad, she has witnessed that painting -being a powerful language- when used as a means of expression is highly effective in comforting them. Therefore the artist strongly believes that painting is one of the most essential elements of communication. She mentions that similar to the multicultural, multilayered structure of Turkey, the perception of the art of painting is largely diverse as well and that the act of living together can turn out to be much more constructive and embracing if we understand each other better. She believes that by means of our paintings, we will in the least, have the opportunity to recede from the danger of marginalizing each other.

The paintings of Siir Ozbilge are considerably influenced by those of the children she works with. She tries to explain this process by these words: “Actually my figures developed as a result of my self-constraint in producing perfect drawings. For a child seeing another person much more competent in drawing, easily shies away from expressing himself through this and starts to claim that he/she is not able to do it.”

The paintings we can observe in the first solo exhibition of Siir are a part of this whole process. The multicultural, multilayered structure of Istanbul is the main theme of the artist. As we all know that the name of Istanbul in ancient times was Constantinople, let us start by reminding the name of the city according to Siir, namely Chaostantin! As a matter of fact, the lead into the exhibition is likewise; there is a “Visitor” riding a bike on the main road speeding toward the direction Chaostantin. The exhibition in a way can be viewed through the eyes of this “Visitor” that seems to have newly arrived in this chaotic city. “Most probably this complex period will come to an end soon, confronting us all with another (form of) Istanbul to live in. Eliminating several paradigms of existence on the way we will continue with what’s left and what’s new... Those who have been patched to the city with immigration will be homogenized and crushed by the system. We may miss this diversity at first, but on the other hand, who knows, maybe our minds will freshen up a bit due to the relief from all that complexity... Or maybe that’s the way it was, that’s the way it will be forever.” These are Siir’s predictions concerning this chaotic city, Istanbul. She chooses to illustrate this chaos in her paintings through figures of child adults.

Ghetto”, claiming to represent and be a defender of different cultures of different neighborhoods, is telling us about the borders drawn between cultures and therefore is one of the important examples among Ozbilge’s paintings underlining the chaos in the city. In “Immigration” we are confronted with an old woman who is pushing a wheelbarrow loaded by her cherry tree, showing us once again that Istanbul is not only hosting its visitors but also their cultures. We see people closely hanging on to each other under the protection of a dome in “Centrifuge”. But sadly due to the centrifugal force they are subject to, their break-up is only a matter of time! It seems that beheaded people in “Shattered” drifting here and there, scattered by a huge footprint to the four winds, are possibly picturing this very moment. In the next instance “Patchwork”, the city is patching itself to cherish all kinds of cultures present within it. How far or till when, who knows?!

Violence is another distinctive element the city holds within, that’s for sure. An exact sign of this violence can be seen in “Fighting”. A “togetherness” intolerant towards diversities. Viewed from this aspect, “Follower” is a much more joyful piece; at least about something seen as worthwhile -by many of us- to unite under a flag! “Istanblues” and On the Street” are again pieces that show us what we are able to achieve collectively and indicate the importance of street culture.

Attentive eyes examining Siir Ozbilge’s works, will easily recognize her admiration for the great Flemish master Brueghel. “Neighborhood” gathering children’s games around a circle and “In memory of Brueghel” where a fish used as an ammunition dump plays the lead, are obvious examples evidencing that Siir is a true follower of the inheritance of Brueghel. Let us not forget that the themes of Pieter Brueghel’s (1525-1569) paintings such as wars, destructions, miserable people and the overall chaos still suggest people’s solidarity as a solution for the challenging circumstances of the period. Brueghel while expressing his reaction against all the wars, destructions of the time through his violent themes in his paintings, on the other hand reminds us that we all grew up playing the same children’s games, that we still have the chance to meet on common ground and thereby invites us all to purity. It’s the same message Siir’s paintings are conveying us: There is absolutely nothing that can prevent people from gathering under the same big umbrella, as long as they all manage to remain as pure as children!

Burcu PELVANOĞLU