I found in my studio in BCN the reproduction of the famous french medieval tapestry called "the lady with the unicorn". 

In Cyprus Tapestry ( goblen) is an activity practiced by women and children. I like goblen making by women because it gives a possibility to use the creativity differently and can bring people together.

I can consider these tapestries as a work of art because  by realizing it they can lighten their own spirit and then add a different spirit to their homes and those living there. At the same time  it has the power to change the perspective and what’s more it's fun.

This tapestry reproduction that l found in my studio hides stories behind it. It traveled from cyprus to barcelona. My mum was very fun of goblen sewings. This undone tapestry is from her collection. 

The real tapestry that is in Cluny Museum in Paris, represent the senses in a mille fleurs tapestry background, plus the enigmatic ‘A Mon Seul Desir’ tapestry. This is a 6 piece of work set with the first five representing the five sense and the sixth called Mon seul desir ( my only desire) which represents free will.

This famous tapestry reproduction can be found in every house as a work of art. So it could have left a trace behind it not like in the museums but being something that can be part of our daily lives.

 

I evoke:

Cut / sew

Divide to multiply

The frame

Pixele

The lack / empty spaces / silences

What is Represented (women) / what is hidden 

Male and female forces

Sewing / drawing

Painting / populated

Collage / reordering the time

Time / move between present and past

Smell / see / smell / hearing / taste / touched

 

I wanted to question how aware we are of our senses. 

It is related to illusion and the visible. 

I wanted to experiment how our perceptions change. 

How do we live our perceptions, how does someone else live. How we perceive our senses and 

how someone else perceive theirs.

I can see that perceptions can change. Space, concept of time, emotions, beliefs, impressions, hunger, thirst, heat, warmth, pain, fatigue can change this process of perception.

 

-I choosed everyday materials to explore.

The refrigerator box, the raw tapestry, the old linen... 

The ordinary functions are removed from each object's original use and the nature of of the objects changed.

 

-A huge refrigerator box turned into a fragile black room. It turned into a place where one could go inside that black room and look outside from a lens. 

We experienced to be in a place where we can change our perception by turning inwards.

I wanted to create a space where the senses flow freely. Each piece is a game to discover. There are obvious things or meanings, but there are always hidden things. It is a space to be and spend time with yourself.

What is hiding in plain sight and how we experience to look from the inside to the outside world.

The construction of the box was fragile. 

It was like a mirror to show us our fragility. 

It was like a camouflage the way that the colours and the shape of the box make it difficult to see the useless, worthless but glorious part of it. 

One has the choice of enetering inside the box or not, it is also something about our choices. We can use our strength to poke this curiosity, to follow through, and to see what will happened.

Everything may seem superficial as it is used ordinary objects. It can tell an ordinary story. This is the story of what is going on inside us, inside the box, the unseen. It is the search for what makes us who we are. For me, it was to experience being comfortable while showing the vulnerability. 

 

I wanted to create a space where the senses flow freely. Each piece is a game to discover. There are obvious things or meanings, but there are always hidden things. It is a space to be and spend time with yourself.

What impresses me is always the last element that is not calculated or thought out but it is done with the sum of the two spaces (what we create together with Alev Adil) which give something very mystical and light at the same time.

Creating space is a very feminine act.

We bond

We weave stories with a transparent red thread.

 

The hidden meaning of things

 

Asli Bolayir

​