Seda Hepsev, Rose
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Curated by Caterina Fondelli
September 12, 2023 – October 14, 2023
Quartz Studio
Via Giulia di Barolo, 18/D
10124 Turin, Italy
Via Giulia di Barolo, 18/D
10124 Turin, Italy
Seda
Hepsev has conceived a site-specific project that draws on the
revolutionary, unconventional approach to femininity developed by the
writer Hilda Doolittle (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S., 1886). She
developed her approach throughout her career and especially in the
verses of her 1915 poem “The Garden.” Seda seeks to create a new
context, challenging and re-reading the boundaries of power
structures through an intelligent interpretation and a playfulness
applied both to her practice and the space. The process of proceeding
by layers, which was already at the foundation of Hepsev’s poetics,
both conceptually and practically, mirrors the spare, direct imagery
of Doolittle’s writing. Simplicity unleashes a multitude of
meanings. As visitors gradually enter Rose
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conceived as a personification of the natural elements discussed in
the poem, they are encouraged to take their own path through
present-day social imperatives. Geometric metal pieces greet us at
the entrance of the exhibition, suggesting the perseverance
of roses thriving in the harshest of environments, among stones seen
as obstacles to the living breath’s instinct toward freedom. The
gaze is invited to continue in the dance, drawn in by the dynamic
positioning of visual signs in the space to then reach pure lightness
and evanescence in the artist’s textile painting. The works act as
open-ended stories, where universal human stages are recounted in a
flowing, falling, collapsing, almost flying way like that which Hilda
tied to Greek myths in her compositions. The dichotomous presence of
heat and wind, signifying repression and a path to relief and change,
respectively, are expressed in these artworks. They exist in the
liminal space between painting, sculpture, and installation, bringing
together threads, wires, shadows, and light. There is a movement, an
elegant pirouette like a breeze, subtle yet strong, pushing towards a
new vision of the rich ‘Garden’ of representation and identity.
The entire project is permeated by a particular feeling: that of
freedom and the lack of regard that Hilda Doolittle showed the
confines of her time’s conventions. This attitude was not a
frivolous one as it stemmed from the self and social awareness that
led her to go beyond the imaginable horizon. Seda Hepsev’s Rose
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is not a conversation with herself or a message directed only to
women. The project is an important manifesto for the
self-actualization of all. - Caterina Fondelli