The Mommy? series uses melty beads—a material from my children’s toys—to create large-scale, text-based works that embody the intersection of motherhood and artistic identity. The series began when my daughter asked me: “Mommy, did you used to be an artist?” This innocently profound inquiry prompted a reflection on the loss of selfhood of the mother.
Each piece in the series is made of approximately 30,000 beads and features candid questions my children have asked, including “Mommy, what was your name before me?”, “Mommy, can you wipe my butt?”, and “Mommy, can I have everything of yours?”
The process of ironing the beads together transforms a mundane domestic chore into an artistic act, serving as a private protest similar to the creation of clay mantı in Ana-Dolu.
The series is ongoing.
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 95 cm
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 95 cm
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2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 97cm.
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 97cm.
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 97cm.
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 97 cm.
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 97cm.
2024, melty beads. 70 x 97cm.
2024, melty beads. 70.5 x 97cm.
2024, melty beads. 70 × 97 cm.
2025, fuse beads. 70 × 97 cm.
2025, melty beads. 70 × 97 cm.
2025, Melty beads. 70 × 97 cm.
2023, eriyen boncuk. 70 x 97 cm.
2024, eriyen boncuk. 70.5 x 97cm.
2023, eriyen boncuk. 70.5 x 95 cm.
2024, eriyen boncuk. 70.5 x 97cm.
2023, eriyen boncuk. 70.5 x 97 cm.
2023, eriyen boncuk. 70 x 97 cm.
2023, eriyen boncuk. 70 x 97 cm.
2024, eriyen boncuk. 70 × 97 cm.
2025, eriyen boncuk. 70 × 97 cm.
2025, eriyen boncuk. 71 × 106 cm.
2024, eriyen boncuk, 45 x 45 cm
2024, eriyen boncuk, 58 x 87cm
2024, glow in the dark fuse beads, 54.5 × 39.5 cm (text), 26 × 23 xm (moon), 23 × 23 cm (star)
(view in the dark)
2017-2019, clay and tea on canvas, 70 x 100 cm
Ana-Dolu combines “Anadolu” (Anatolia) with “ana dolu,” meaning “mother-filled” in Turkish.
The work focuses on mantı, a traditional Turkish dumpling that is labor-intensive to prepare and quickly consumed. In Kayseri, mantı is associated with marriage, often used to assess a woman’s domestic skills. By recreating them in clay, I remove their function.
The repetitive act of shaping each dumpling becomes a private, silent form of protest, reflecting on the undervalued labor expected of women. Ana-Dolu is an ongoing project.
2024, Clock, clay and tea, 29 cm, edition of 3 + 1 AP
Mantıksız Saat is a play on words combining mantı (the traditional Turkish dish), mantıksız (meaning “illogical”), and tıksız (suggesting “without movement” or “not working”). This piece continues the exploration of mantı introduced in Ana-Dolu, expanding its metaphorical significance.
2024, clay, approximately 3 × 2 cm each
(variable size installation)
Building on themes from Ana-Dolu, Çiğ Çiğ, Acı Acı explores resistance through the act of shaping çiğ köfte (a traditional Turkish dish) from clay. Like mantı, çiğ köfte becomes a symbol of labor-intensive work, but here it also embodies power, revolution, and protest, represented by the clenched fist. Each clay çiğ köfte reflects the negative space of a fist—a haunting imprint of absence, symbolizing silent protest, unspoken truths, and invisible labor.
This series is ongoing.
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm each
Immaculate Conception reinterprets the art historical theme of the Virgin Mary’s sinless conception through a series of prints that merge biological imagery with symbolic representations. Initially appearing to depict ovulation, closer inspection reveals ‘sperm’ as tampon prints and ‘eggs’ as impressions of my breasts.
An exploration of the concept of parthenogenesis as a metaphor for independent artistic creation.
This is an ongoing series.
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, monotype, acrylic on archival paper, 50 x 35 cm
2024, Single channel video, 1 min 15 seec.
2023, Photograph.
2023, Photograph.
