Nancy Atakan
Istanbul, Turkey
About the Artist
Nancy Atakan has been an active figure in the Istanbul arts scene as an artist, teacher, art historian, and art critic for over 40 years. She received her Ph. D from Mimar Sinan University in 1995. Her practice, which spans most possible mediums, concentrates on topics such as the relationship between image and word, the meaning of belonging, gender politics, memory, and globalization. Often autobiographical, these subjects are relevant to her personally as an American who has lived and worked in the metropolis of Istanbul since 1969. All of her work involves research, collaboration and dialogue as it incorporates observations of current events and references to history and culture. Permeated with touches of lightness, historical narratives and weighty issues within her work are brought closer to everyday life. Believing the art arena to be a space for experimentation and developing alternative models for living, as a part of her art practice, she co-founded in 2007 the Istanbul based art initiative/project space, 5533.
Artist Statement
While using contemporary modes of communication and envisioning all types of collaboration both for the materialization and presentation of art objects in art events, I take dialogue, human interaction and social context as a theoretical base. I see the art process as a place to ask questions, to solve problems, as well as to create models for working and living together; models for learning to interact, to communicate, to network, to live side by side with polarity and to establish relationships. I make digital videos, photographic work, digital prints, installations, text and artist books that explore the relationship between image and word as well as deal with psychological, social, linguistic, gender and personal topics. Recently, I incorporated textiles and embroidery into my practice to link my work to traditional female methodology. Initially I commissioned trained women to make my pieces for me, but now I make my own needlework pieces that usually include poetic statements about observations, memories, feelings, or experiences.
