THE INSTALLATIONS OF MEHMET ALI UYSAL

MEHMET ALI UYSAL

Merhaba Turkey! 

 When I saw Mehmet's large clothes pin it made me think of Claes Oldenburg's large sculptures

Mehmet Ali Uysal     Turkey/Turkiye                       from google image for educational purposes only

Mehmet Ali Uysal                                   from google image for educational purposes only

Claes Oldenburg       from google for education only

  After living in Turkey for two years, in Izmir I have a great deal of affection for the country and its people.  I often think there would be world peace much sooner of we only experienced each others cultures up close and personal.

I was on sabbatical from Pinellas County School System to study Islamic art and Turkish folk arts.  I was welcomed into communities and treated as an honored guest. Dokuz Eyul Univerisy in Izmir and the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul were very supportive and helpful during that time. 

Mehmet's sculptures are playful and seem to transform what ever space they are in.  I encourage you to learn more about this young artist and follow his career. Since 1990's Turkey has changed a good bit, and the art scene has grown tremendously. Now Istanbul host the Istanbul Biennial which is one of the art worlds most famous venues internationally.

Hello Izmir, Turkiye!!!

Merhaba!  It is so good to see you peaking in on the blog.  I have two years of really good memories from Izmir and Turkey.  I was fortunate to see a good part of your lovely country while I was there.  I know it has changed a lot since the 90's, but I will never forget the friendliness of the people and the beauty of your country.  I especially loved all the beautiful architecture and the Turkish folk arts.  
One of my favorite memories is looking out at the lights on the surrounding mountains.  It always reminded me of Van Gogh's Starry Night.  Thank you Izmir, for so many good memories.

Izmir at Night                                    from google image for educational purposes only

TURKISH PAPER MARBLING

Merhaba!  Nasil Sinez?  Hello, How are you?

One of the nice things about living in a country for an extended period of time is you go beyond the tourist surface sampling of a culture to in depth exploration and understanding.  I lived in Izmir on the coast of Turkey for two years and explored the rich and vibrant Turkish history of Turkish folk art and more distant archeological layers of earlier peoples.
Turkey and well as the Philippines were countries that welcomed me, embraced me and taught me about the world, its peoples and their expressions in art.  I would not trade either experience for anything.  In Turkey I was on a sabbatical to study Turkish Folk art and Islamic art.  I rode through the countryside with a wonderful tour guide who spoke fluent Turkish and had an old mercedes benz. We bumped along the village roads and into local markets where folk arts were still alive and well.  My guide was not what you might expect-she was a blonde American wife of a Dods school principal.  She was not tall, blue eyed and blonde hair...what a pair we made in the Turkish countryside!
One of the folks arts I became enamored with was the Turkish method of marbling paper.  To watch in person is quite amazing, to see the colors swirl with just the touch of a feather of a tiny droplet of ink. It is called Turkish marbling thought wikapedia will tell you it just happened to be where Europeans saw it first.  So lets go with that....it is where this American saw it first.  I need to thank Dokuz Eylul University and the Izmir School of Turkish Historic arts for their time and education of this American art teacher.

Turkish Marbling of paper may have had its earlier beginnings in Persia or India, but at least it was being done simultaneously.  The Ottomans and later theTurks perfected the art and took it to a very high level of artistic skill.  As you can see if the photo below it can almost become meditational in just the act of doing.

"There are several methods for making marbled papers. A shallow tray is filled with water, and various kinds of ink or paint colors are carefully applied to the surface with an ink brush. Various additives or surfactant chemicals are used to help float the colors. A drop of "negative" color made of plain water with the addition of surfactant is used to drive the drop of color into a ring. The process is repeated until the surface of the water is covered with concentric rings.
The floating colors are then carefully manipulated either by blowing on them directly or through a straw, fanning the colors, or carefully using a human hair to stir the colors. In the 19th century, the Kyoto master Tokutaro Yagi developed a method for using a split piece of bamboo to gently stir the colors, resulting in concentric spiral designs. Finally, a sheet of washipaper is carefully laid onto the water surface to capture the floating design. The paper, which is often made of kozo (Paper Mulberry or Broussonetia papyrifera), must be unsized, and strong enough to withstand being immersed in water without tearing."  source Wikapedia  

THE EXQUISITE ART OF TURKISH PAPER MARBLING                                                      google image

in a later post we will look at the how to element for you personal use.

Izmir, Turkey

Merhaba Izmir, Turkiye
It is so nice to have you visit.  I lived in Izmir for two years and enjoyed it so very much.  I still remember looking at the homes on the hillsides light up like a million stars and eating calamari along the bay!  

Izmir

MERHABA TURKEY!!!!

I lived in Izmir two years and traveled widely in Turkey. It so nice to see a reader from a favorite place of mine in this world. The Topkapi, Pamukale Falls, Cappidocia, Antalya, Bursa, Istanbul, doner Kebabs, calamari...oh, I could go on and on. Tesekkur ederim! (thank you!)