Belkis Balpinar Asymmetric Waves (Courtesy of the artist and Ethan Cohen Gallery)
The celebrated Turkish contemporary kilim designer Belkıs Balpınar was made for Manhattan, especially when her huges curvilinear patterns are displayed against lovely crisp white walls and floors of the Ethan Cohen gallery.
As the gallery notes, ‘It is difficult to reinvent, or even find novelty in a tradition as old as tapestry, yet Balpınar continues to innovate.’ Abandoning the geometric shapes of traditional kilims and moved onto ‘curvilinear forms, which more accurately reflects the shape of the universe. This new technique has allowed her to express ideas surrounding chaos and order. She has invented a technique she named “not-weaving”, which consists of leaving parts of the warp unwoven - a radical intervention of the medium. Balpınar’s deconstruction of traditional methods adds dimensionality to the process and the form.’
Belkis Balpinar Asymmetric Waves (Courtesy of the artist and Ethan Cohen Gallery)
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
