Hold Your Head Up

and

See Your Heroic Self

by Nihan Aycan 

neck piece, brass, 2020

Image credit: Jim De Block

Abstract

 

Femicides, all over the world, over the centuries…
Decapitations, the cuts, the death and the silence

But we can’t frame this issue only as a physical act, since silencing of women is about mobilising the immense strength that we Women have

So beneath under, the act generates itself by constructing an infamous logic of anti-love, an anti-narcissism, in order to make women to hate themselves, be their own enemies

Over the centuries we women, have been sunken into the darkness of silence, the darkness of being a prisoner of our own bodies and being projected as monstrous

And we believed that, like we believed when the beautiful young Medusa with lovely head of hair, projected us as the petrifier, the snakes-headed monstrous through an old myth which repeated it self over and over. I believed so too…

The cut, the silence…

All Women have been through the sirens of silence,
should experience that self-realisation and remember the inner power inside their bodies so they can heal and embrace the beautiful laughing Medusa again in each of us…

In this sense, this project, with a strong ignition inside, is my own contribution, as an artist, as a mother and as a Woman, to tell our true story through a sculptural adornment

Hold Your Head Up and See Your Heroic-Self is an exploration of the immense strength of Women.
It aims to reverse the issue of silencing of women into
self-empowerment by evoking an awareness of self
and a unity of mind-body

The piece within its placement onto the body, stimulates the mind for an expansive posture, whilst its vigorous form and the gold-like material embrace her Goddess-hood

CHAPTER I

Beyond Time, Far Beyond Time

Me, The Cuts And The Old Myth

Eyes shot down, trying to hear

                       The silence…

“shhh…the cut “, whispers Medusa wisely “from the mirrored shield I ‘ve been shown, the decapitation of my own”…The cuts!

           The necks,
                            the cut of the necks…

A cut of the neck then the head and the rest
without the neck, there is death

A body,

         bodies,

                    our female bodies in pieces…

Our female bodies with no end

                         taken from our memories,

sunk into a darkness of silence

 

A body,

              bodies,

                         our female bodies in pieces…

Our female bodies with no end

                         taken from our memories,

sunk into a darkness of silence

How many times

                    we, women, have been left as

prisoners of our own bodies

                    how many times we have been

projected as monstrous

                    how many times we have been

dead…

Silencing of women,

over and over

still

in this time

in this very time…

Silencing of women,

over and over

still

in this time

in this very time…

The heart beats,

                      the hammer beats,

                                               thus a shield appears

Holding my head up and seeing the shield

A trope of shield for the head, to be placed on the neck that will embrace your power back.

 

The heart beats,

                      the hammer beats,

                                            thus a shield appears

Holding my head up and seeing the shield

A trope of shield for the head, to be placed on the neck that will embrace your power back.

“Hold your head up and see your heroic-self ” whispering Medusa wisely

            Holding my head
and seeing a neck up
 

A neck that is not feasible to cut,   for it bears a shield that embellishes all that life forces on to the female body 

“Hold your head up and see your heroic-self ” whispering Medusa wisely

            Holding my head
and seeing a neck up
 

A neck that is not feasible to cut,   for it bears a shield that embellishes all that life forces on to the female body 

Yes, that mirrored shield, once reflected

the violence on to you Medusa, reflects now the power itself, 

your protective power itself,
on to us!

Holding my head and
seeing a neck up

It is alive, it is moving, it is free

And this vigor of her, livens up me

Holding my head up                                               and telling a story

A story that we feel inside to heal us

A story needs to be heard to reverse the old one, 

           for the old one has been told us before, was not the actual one 

 

Holding my head up and telling a story

A story that we feel inside to heal us

A story needs to be heard to reverse the old one, 

           for the old one has been told us before, was not the actual one 

The heart beats,

the hammer beats,

thus the darkness flees

Holding up a shield that tells the actual story,

my story,

your story,

                   our story

We are no longer a slave to fear,

we hear no longer the sirens of silence,

                for the shield we bear shelters our inner power

Image credits: Jim De Block

Recognising The Severed Head Through Her Power

“When Perseus performs the act of beheading, not wishing to be turned to stone, he avoids looking at her directly and only sees her reflection in the mirrored shield given to him by Athena. He then escapes and uses the severed the head as a weapon, since it still has the power to turn onlookers to stone. He eventually presents the head of Medusa to Athena, who places it on to her shield and and within an everlasting power the head starts to protect people from other kinds of evil.” (David Leeming, Medusa : In the Mirror of Time, 2013)

In this manner, my intention to recognise the motif of the Medusa’s Head will not be through her decapitation, but instead through this protective power of her. That would make possible to reverse victimisation into strength and to recast self-empowerment of Women.

On Neck and Head

The project primarily focuses on the neck since neck is the life force of whole body, the ”lifeblood” where the body unifies itself as a whole. Without the neck, there is death. The cut of the neck, then a head and the rest.

To me neck, within its feature of being such vulnerable and tender but at the same time, vigorous enough to hold you together, is a resembling of Woman herself.

That’s why I decided upon to regard the neck as a representation of the life force of the whole female body and investigate it, as a space, as a moving form.

On The Posture of Power

If the power is inside of you, how to see it then?

To make this possible, we need an awareness of self and a unity of mind and body.

If we manifest the presence of an expansive posture, that will make an impact on us to deal with frustration, insecurity, fear and other emotional outburst under social thread situations, especially when our identities taken from us.

So within an aspect of a mind-object-body relation, I wanted to explore the ways of manifesting the presence of an expansive posture through a sculptural form and material which would evoke an awareness of an inner power and self-confidence.

The piece within its vigorous form and its placement to the body, stimulates the mind for an expansive posture since the only way the piece reposes on the shoulder is when the neck and head is upright. Likewise the gold-like material reminds Woman her Goddess-hood.

CHAPTER II

Embodying

Approaching Craft Within a Design Methodology

This project appeared to my practice as a new approach, since I, for the first time would investigate the human body as my space.

So considering that, I decided to remain my own methodology I work on design projects while exploring the neck as my space. 

Moodboards for example is a must-have tool for me to launch out the process
and to visualise the ideas, the feelings and the concept

On the other hand when I need to construct a form or a space, I always prefer to scale modelling as a tool so that I can promptly demonstrate various manipulations.

This method also provides me a clear examination from different angles and makes possible to reflect on the form’s interaction with the viewer.

Therefore I sculptured this model as a representation of the body part and the posture,
in other words, as the representation of my space. (pink oven-bake clay, h 15 cm)

Parallel to sketching on scale model I also made some quick sketches on the mannequin.

Normally sketching on 1:1 scale occurs on final stages of my process; just before I start construct the final form when I feel all ideas fulfil their function in the smaller scale. But in this case my space is a human body. An organic form, its measurements differ from person to person. 

On top of that, the exact measurements of the object I’m gonna shape, will also be unpredictable since it has to follow the form of the body. So there is no precise measurement either of the space, nor of the form which will fill that space. Planned forms and planned drawings all sudden become irrelevant. And I realised that during the whole process I’m gonna need to make re-adjustments on the actual space,
on the human body.

Yet another moodboard with an overall view to the project

Choosing brass and choosing hammer…
A material and a tool that I’ve never combined to work with before, I’ve never hammered before. Being aware of that, still taking that decision because I believe that material and technique would fulfil the way of expression I’m looking for. 

Brass could shelter our inner power. Hammer could give brass to a new life, as a shield that have power to protect. Brass could transform itself over and over by embracing all that life forces of dynamic, organic, vigorous forms.

Cutting a rough form in brass to be shaped, to be re-adjusted over and over to fill its space (sheet thickness 0,5 mm)

An experimental process of making through senses. The unification…

The studio space, the tools, the material and my body…All are united. Feeling alive through making. Making through senses, seeing, listening and feeling.

The room is growing into a space, a space to bear witness of making.

The heart beats, the hammer beats.Hearing the materiel, the material comes to life and
telling me all about her life…all her tears and laughters…

She is stiff and rough I’m thinking at first, but then feeling of her all scratches from countless mistakes she’s made and witnessing how she still manages to keep her self soft and warm, still can shape herself over and over again, despite everything…

Searching the ways of reposing the form in balance. Shoulder is the centre of mass but how to shore up the shoulder? Forming over and over, she is “a limitlessly changing ensemble.” 

Despite my determination that the form would be shaped as one piece, soldering brass to copper. The form finally reposes on the shoulder in balance. Am I happy with this material combination? More than expected.

Initiating the final form. The previous form is now my ground that I can make a pattern from. Considering the re-adjustments I’ll do later on the body, I’m leaving some margins around. Since, I still can not perceive the precise measurements

The new form grows to a creation

Comparing to the previous form on the left, the size of the final form’s been extended

Soldering copper and brass. The construction of the shoulder part is also different from the previous one

The final touches

Image credit: Jim De Block

CHAPTER III

About Me 

Artist Statement

In a poetic landscape in which art and design are blurred, I explore the question: ”What do I hear when I look?”. For me there is always a hidden dialogue between mind, object and space. The space I furnish with sculptural objects is sometimes a physical place, sometimes the body and sometimes an imaginary venue. But no matter which space I work with, it comes to life through sensory experience.

My experimental research process begins by examining narrative and aims to understand how emotions can be made manifest in the material forms of interactive sculptures and installations. 

Reflective materials and metals are my primary mediums. However, to frame my practice simply with an account of techniques would overlook the ‘meaning-making perspective’ of my work which in each project is to find the right methods to tell the story.

Education

Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Crafts
specialisation in jewellery art
HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, Gothenburg 
2020 – 2018
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Design
HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, Gothenburg
2017 – 2014
Preparatory Program in Fine Arts
KV, Art School of Folkuniversitetet, Gothenburg
2014 – 2013
Interior & Design, Academic Preparatory Program
Art College of Folkuniversitetet, Gothenburg
2013 – 2012
BA Level in Tourism Administration and Hotel Management
Adnan Menderes University, Kusadasi Turkey
2000 – 1996

Group Exhibitions & Contributions

Craft Space Helvetet Sweden
Online Exhibition Platform for Contemporary Craft
august 2020
HUMAN – NATURE
contributed with two interactive
installation designs

Världskulturmuseet, The Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg
2019 – 2020
OW BAMA – BFA Graduation Show
Open Week: Gothenburg Design Festival
Röhsska Museum of Design and Craft, Gothenburg
nov 2017
Almost Complete
Milano Design Week – Ventura Lambrate, Milan
april 2017
Almost Complete
Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair – Green House, Stockholm
feb 2017
Promiseland
curating & spatial design
A-venue Gallery, Gothenburg
jan 2016
We’re Having a Dinner Party and You Are Invited
Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair – Green House, Stockholm
feb 2013
Light in Blackbox
Frilagrets Kulturhus, Gothenburg
nov 2012

Press and Media

AD Germany, Farbiges Glas, July-August 2017 Issue, p 34

Wallpaper Magazine, Clear View, July 2017 Issue, p 53-54, p 232

Designterapin Podcast (E03, 13 Apr 2017)
https://soundcloud.com/user-3236629/designterapin-e03
(from 15′ 10” )

Designtalanger i Milano
Göteborgs-Posten (9 Apr 2017)
https://www.pressreader.com/sweden/göteborgs-posten/20170409/282574492933093

Milan17: Almost Complete by HDK
Arts Thread (3 Apr 2017)
https://www.artsthread.com/blog/milan-17-almost-complete-hdk/ 

HDK visar ”Almost complete” på möbelmässan i Milano
news.cision.com (31 Mar 2017)
https://news.cision.com/se/goteborgs-universitet/r/hdk-visar–almost-complete–pa-mobelmassan-i-milano,c2228801

One to Watch: Nihan Aycan ‧ Exhibitions & Installations
Colour Hive (1 Mar 2017)
https://colourhive.com/blog/one-to-watch/one-watch-nihan-aycan
 

Design trends: virtual exoticism
Materiali Casa (28 Feb 2017)
http://www.materialicasa.com/mc-en/extra/trends/design-trends-virtual-exoticism/

Sky’s the Limit: Emerging Talents at Stockholm Design Week
Pamono.com (14 Feb 2017)
https://www.pamono.com/stories/sky-s-the-limit 

Scholarships

Adlerbertska Foundation – 2019

Estrid Ericson foundation – 2017

Adlerbertska Foundation – 2016

Work Experience

Världskulturmuseet, The Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg
Exhibition Design Internship 
feb – apr 2018
Selma Förskola, Gothenburg
Interior Design
apr – may 2013
The Touring and Automobile Club
Touristic Establishments, Istanbul, Turkey
Sales & Marketing Assistant Manager 
2003 – 2007
Pine Bay Holiday Resort, Kusadasi, Turkey
Front Office
apr – sep 1999

Contact