SANDYMANSIONAL
March 30–April 30, 2023
Dirimart is delighted to present SANDYMANSIONAL, an exhibition of paintings by Çağla Ulusoy. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, following an announcement of representation earlier this year.
The exhibition presents lush, large-scale abstract paintings that Ulusoy paints by using acrylics, oils and sand on both canvas and jute. Having lived and studied across many countries, Ulusoy’s paintings are a distinct cross-pollination between numerous cultures. Ulusoy never ceases to cross borders and embrace the foreign elements, histories and traditions she encompasses. In her painting practice, Çağla interweaves a rich understanding of color with a unique style of emphasizing the surface of the canvas.
Sentimental and dimensional are but two words to describe the works of Ulusoy, hence Sandy Mansional. An advanced sensibility to color challenges her to push each hue to achieve balance within the projected frame. The familiarity of these abstracted paintings are the result of years of studying the color field to the point of having to rethink reality to suggest deeper connections and meanings. There are years of time spent in Mexico embedded in The Parfumerie, pastel tones of sweetshops in LAVENDER SOAP. City life in London appears as a single candle in HBD, a cartoon-like reimagination that alludes to English comic books for children. Her upbringing in Istanbul and the Aegean inspired her to add doric columns as building blocks to those vast fields of complementing colors.
Ulusoy’s works are reconstructions of her visions. The subject matter is a flow between figures or scenes set against elaborately decorated frames. As one would design a set or set a table, Ulusoy takes reflective steps when building the painting. Approaching the canvas, as though through a camera lens, she blurs and sharpens the apparitions she wishes to convey. At times, the many layered forms appear close or they allude to a sense of unforced spaciousness creating a safe and balanced boundary between the viewer and the work to converse. Her unique visual language has coalesced in a universe of fantastical characters and motifs where perspective is heightened and skewed to uncanny effect.
Çağla often introduces new materials to the canvas such as sand and wax. Contrasted against the rawness of jute, the materialistic layers accentuate and allow for the image to appear at times independently. Exceptional degrees of intensity and fluidity is achieved through experimenting with a myriad of materials.
The exhibition is on view at Dirimart Pera until April 30.
Çağla Ulusoy (b. 1989, Istanbul Turkey) completed her BA of Visual Arts at Creapole ESDI in Paris in 2013. The same year, she moved to New York where she started attending classes at the Art Student’s League of New York. There, she met artist Pat Lipsky who became her mentor for two years. She graduated from Royal College of Art, London in 2018 with an MA in painting. The artist lives and works in Istanbul.
