"Interview with the artist" Gallery ex Machina Barcelona (Galerist Damla Toker)

…You have taken painting to a new level with “Fire & Steampaintings using fire and steam to create your works. What is your inspiration for this collection?

I am not only searching for new ways to express myself through my work but I am also interested in finding new techniques that could fit into my own creation process.

I love observing open flames, wood burning or even steam and smoke rising and being blown away by the wind. It is strong and destructive on one side, quiet, beautiful and calming on the other side. 

My idea was to use this strength to create something new and harmonious.

In my latest works I combine water, earth (pigments), wind and fire, where the fire is lit directly on the canvas and guided by wind and water, so that a new harmony is created with the designed landscape. 

Besides the fire, also the smoke is a leading factor in my paintings. The love for the beauty of fire combined with the aim of reducing color to a minimum, is the main inspiration in these latest works.

 

How is your creation process?

The process starts, as for nearly all my paintings, with the photographs taken as reminder during my walks through nature or even cities and then sketching it down. As you know, I take the familiar and start the abstraction process by preparing my support, canvas or others, in the direction I want my paintings to go. 

I light the fire directly on the canvas without destroying it, and that’s the important thing. I am mixing my burning product by myself to get the perfect mix in residues, fire and smoke.

I control the burning process closely, depending on the expected result. The coincidence factor is the water and the wind. Water is reacting firmly with fire and wind, synthetic or real, is guided with my help…