I am a Rotterdam-based female artist born and raised in Istanbul,Turkey. My practice combines artist books and images created with traditional printmaking technics with spatial installations and performances videos, objects, and sound. Throughout the working process, I try to embrace elements of surprise and curiosity by using different production methods; thus creating a ground for constant learning and growing. To comprehend current landscapes of identities, ideologies, and belief systems, I refer to alternative narratives of history. I draw inspiration from historic modes of culture-art production and try to translate them into contemporary experiences. My practice urges from personal experiences and try to find a non-didactic yet politically engaged position in relation to my background and history. I often work in collaboration with other artists and form a collective artistic language. I believe in the power of collectivity and reflect this idea to my daily life by living and working as part of an artist community in Rotterdam.
Fresh Myths Different Times – 2023 edition - This performance piece, in collaboration with Ulufer Çelik, is an ongoing and ever-changing research that allows the artist duo to comprehend and reflect on the past and present events of their homeland by creating a moment for dialogue between generations. Oral histories of myths, stories, poems and songs inform their common heritage and they activate this knowledge with the tools of translation and sound.
The title ‘Fresh myths Different times’ refers to a way of myth making and knowledge sharing while facing pain, traumas and bodily memories. The creation process for the Berlin edition of the performance was influenced by the recent earthquake that took place in Turkey and Syria in February 2023. The fresh myth that is created by the duo’s performance becomes the space for this experience to be transferred, remembered and processed in different times. The performance will consists of poetry reading with live, sampled sounds, accompanied by improvised Illustrations by Carmen Jose projected to the space.
The performance night and the development of this edition was supported by CBK Rotterdam.
Balanced we were / Never to be (2022) - Balanced we were / Never to be is the first solo show of Merve Kılıçer realized between 5 March — 10 April 2022 at artist run space Available&The Rat in Rotterdam, Charlois. The exhibition came together as an installation of new sculptural works, poetry, etchings, wood carvings, and watercolour drawings. The production of the new works was funded by Mondriaan Fonds and the exhibition space was supported by Stichting Droom en Daad.
Artist and the founder of the project space Lili Huston-Herterich wrote an exhibition essay which can be reached on the web page of Available& The Rat along with some exhibition photos:
https://www.availableandtherat.com/2022-mervekilicer.php
Nest Egg (2021) - 'Nest Egg' is a short artist's film that documents the artist as she goes through the procedure of human oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing). The procedure is held in the Netherlands rather than her home country, Turkey, because of the maritime law restrictions on the later usage of the frozen oocytes. With a drive to approach this control mechanism over her body and reproductive rights, the story shares the effects of this process from medical and emotional aspects while discussing the position of the artist in the society in relation to traditional family structures. Borrowing from the staging of the Hidden Mother Photography of the Victorian era, the artist invites the viewer to think about holding the possibility of a child 'stable' while fulfilling the expectations of the society and establishing a professional career in the current precarious conditions of the world. The combination of 16 mm black&white film and the smart phone camera footage emphasizes the dilemma of this new technological procedure which deals with the natural cycle of life.
Sketch For Summer (2020) - Still from the 16mm black&white film (9min.) produced in collaboration with Rotterdam based artist Jake Caleb.
Fresh Myths Different Times (2020) - Performance & Sound installation
An ongoing project in collaboration with Rotterdam based artist Ulufer Çelik.
Volitional Volutions of the Volatile Waters (2019) - This project comes together as a result of a research focusing on cultural heritage and transfer of knowledge through artistic production. The install consists of plexiglass plates with hand and machine etched images and texts. Same plates are also used to install a sound piece that plays through out the exhibition from three different sources spread in the space. Whole install creates a memory space which also functions as a stage for live public moments occurring during the exhibition.
