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
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
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 |