Artist Statement
“Everything dreams. The play of form, of being, is the dreaming of substance. Rocks have their dreams, and the earth changes… But when the mind becomes conscious when the rate of evolution speeds up, then you have to be careful. Careful of the world. You must learn the way. You must learn the skills, the art, the limits. A conscious mind must be part of the whole, intentionally and carefully-as the rock part of the whole unconsciously. Do you see? Does it mean anything to you?” — Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
I, as one of the actors who plays a role in the act of changing the rhythm of life by collecting, making and firing the material, believe that being attentive to the earth is the most important concept to be adopted in terms of all material-based arts. In this context, I try to use “material” as an interface or engagement area of human and non-human actors.
— Özgü Gündeşlioğlu
Bio
Özgü Gündeşlioğlu is an artist/researcher, currently based in Turkey. She held a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Anadolu University and completed her master study in ceramic art at Akdeniz University. She concentrates on the issues around ceramic material, ontology of material and making; and auto-ethnographic art practices. As a PhD candidate, she carries out an artistic research that aims to discuss dichotomic approach in ceramic art within the context of her own practices. The artworks of her PhD dissertation were shown in exhibition called “Entropy”.
Besides Aalto University, she had a guest researcher experience at HiOA which is now known as OsloMet in 2017. As a research fellow at Akdeniz University, Department of Ceramics, she has participated in several national and international exhibitions, worked in academic research projects and published co-authored and solely-written articles.