"Children have a wonderful ability
to describe things in their essence as well as give you advice for life."
 |
| Lucy and Lillian |
 |
| Pinky II |
 |
| Ayse Wilson |
I first saw Ayse's work in a magazine that my father-in-law sent me from Istanbul. I loved them at first sight and searched all over the internet to find where I could obtain one. When I found her on Facebook, I took a chance and wrote a message to her and to my surprise she wrote back to me immediately. I wasn't expecting that because I thought "she doesn't know me, she must be busy, etc.". This was at the beginning of February and since then she has genuinely and kindly corresponded with me over the internet and answered questions for me in her busy schedule with two kids and an upcoming show in Istanbul, not to mention a flu that affected her whole family. I have been dying to introduce her and her wonderful work to you ever since. And I believe, as you read the interview, you will agree with me that it's not only her work but also her personality which draws you and makes you want to know more about her.
A little bit about Ayse
Ayse was born in America to an American mom and a Turkish father. My first message to her was in Turkish however after learning that her Turkish is as good as my Spanish, which sadly is not so fluent, we continued in English. She has studied History at
Wellesley College, whose alumnae include
Hillary Clinton,
Nora Ephron and
Madeleine Albright to name a few. She went on to get her masters degree in Fine Arts at
New York Academy of Art and also studied art in Italy. Ayse has been an assistant to
Jeff Koons, as some of you might know, is the world famous artist whose work has been sold at record prices for any living artist. Her work has recently been selected by
Sotheby's London for their Turkish Contemporary Art auction. Next up in her agenda is her solo show at
PG Art Gallery in Istanbul, called "When We Were Little", through
April 12th till May 13th. Unfortunately, I will not be in Istanbul around that time but if you are anywhere near, save these dates and make sure to visit.
Here is Ayse in her own words:
Does your daily life inspire, nurture your creativity and paintings or is painting an escape for you from the real world?
Daily inspiration and escapism co-exist in some strange combination when
it comes to creating art. I think artists, and anyone who is trying to
create something; designers, writers, dancers, musicians, chefs, etc.,
are usually people who are very aware of and sensitive to the people,
objects, environment and activities surrounding them. They archive and
process their impressions, expressing them in various ways, which is why
art can be so original and yet also so universal. I think for many
artists, their work is an essential part of their being, in the sense
that it would be difficult for them to do anything else. Painting always
feels like an escape for me because a lot of my work involves creating
fantasy portraits of imaginary people. For example, the difference is
that when you are painting a landscape you feel like you need to respect
and honor the vista in order to represent it honestly. When you paint
from your imagination you are trying to understand an idea you have and
it is really easy to get lost!
What is the process to create a series? Does title come first or the color scheme? Do you sketch?
I think a real series probably starts very organically. It’s sort of an
idea that turns into an examination of a concept which gets broken down
into various studies, which by definition come to be called a series. I
have always been a sketcher. I keep notebooks and scrapbooks of little
drawings and doodles. I used to work in advertising, on the creative
side, and I would sit in these really long, boring client meetings and I
would start off attempting to take notes and end up with drawings
instead, usually having nothing to do with the client. In fact, my
swimmer series came from drawings I did sitting in the advertising
meetings. I think I felt really trapped in an office and I started
drawing little figures of swimmers jumping around. I was also missing
Italy, where I had lived and studied for a while and I was trying to
remember how the frescoes looked and I decided to populate them with
swimmers instead of saints.
What is the theme of your current show/project?
I am still working on my “Swimmer” theme, which has evolved into a “Baby
Swimmer” theme. I am preparing for an exhibition called “When We Were
Little” at the
PG Gallery in Istanbul next month which is about youth,
innocence and the timeless space we occupy when we are young. I use the
childlike swimmer motif to try to portray a hopeful and carefree
essence, and nostalgia for youthful fantasy. I am trying to capture that
moment we all shared when we were little and everything felt safe and
good, when we didn’t know about any of the bad stuff.
Lately I have been spending a lot of time thinking about cooking as an
art form because when it is done really well, it is so impressive!
Living in NYC, or probably everywhere these days, people don’t cook very
much, everyone eats out, or orders in, but when someone cooks something
really high quality and delicious in their own kitchen it seems like
such an achievement. I also went to see the Broadway revival of “Jesus
Christ Superstar” the other night and I was completely mesmerized by the
voices of the actors. They sang so well, so intensely and so incredibly
loudly! It was really one of those experiences that made you get
chills. What an art form. I was completely blown away.
What do you display as art in your home (other than your own) and how?
I try to display as much art as possible; it makes your house come
alive. I buy work from my artist friends, I have some old paintings
handed down from family, and this year we splurged on two
Richard Serra
prints which I cannot stop looking at. I love listening to my 4 year old
son’s commentary on the art: “One of them is all stuck and mooshed
together and the other ones are OK because you can see them.” Children have a wonderful ability
to describe things in their essence as well as give you advice for life.
It’s really important for children to grow up around art, books and
photographs, any kinds of artistic images that will leave an impression
and become iconic for them.
What is your current state of mind?
I am very happy understanding that I want to focus on only a few things
in my life. If I try to do too many things I know that I get confused
and distracted.
Thank you, Ayse for this lovely look inside your peaceful, colorful and gifted imagination.
