Elvan Alpay is a Turkish artist whose career spans four decades. She views nature as the essence of all things and considers the creation of her art a healing process for herself—one she hopes to share with her audience. She finds meaning in exploring infinity within the boundaries of the finite. Her intricate floral motifs inspire contemplation and reflection on the fundamental aspects of life.
In an interview with Fine Art Shippers, she discussed how she encourages viewers to revisit preconceived values, explore the interplay of simplicity and complexity, and join her in her search for hope and joy—for both herself and her audience.
Artist Talk: Elvan Alpay on Exploring the “Aha” Moment in Art
Could you tell us a little about your background and how you started in art?
Elvan Alpay: I graduated from the Marmara University painting department in 1990, a time when the art scene in Istanbul was quite different. The city had only a few galleries and a single national museum of fine arts. In the 1990s, postmodernity introduced many new ways of interpreting both the past and the future. Art became a significantly more ideological practice than ever before.
Your work features strong organic and floral motifs. What draws you to these natural elements? Do they hold symbolic meaning for you?
As a child growing up in Stockholm, I remember going to the forest every day after school, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone. Walking on the deep green moss surrounded by towering trees was always a magical experience. I choose my motifs from nature because I am captivated by its ever-changing magic—reconstructing and multiplying forms in size and color.
What inspired you to explore such intricate, layered designs in your art?
I can easily call myself a canvas sculptor. I think in layers, create visuals, and watch them come together with minimal manipulation. Zufall, or chance as we might call it, lends the initial effort a lightness and an open-ended outcome.
What is the conceptual source of your art?
I have always been interested in what gives art its perceived value—what defines good art or bad art? With freedom and challenge intertwined, I choose not to offer the audience the comfort of judging based on preconceived values, making sincerity my priority in every interaction.
Since floral imagery is often seen as merely decorative, easily created, and primarily entertaining, glorifying it in this way allows me to explore the boundaries between the expected and the unexpected, merging them in search of an “aha” moment.
What materials do you use in your work, and how do they influence the visual and tactile experience of your art? What paints do you use?
Material choice plays a decisive role in my creative process. I first imagine the desired outcome and then search for the most suitable medium to bring it to life. Each new exhibition introduces a new material and my efforts to shape it into what I envision. I have cast aluminum and resins, reshaped ready-mades, multiplied forms using wood paste, and covered objects with glitter and glass powder. In my latest series, I work exclusively with liquid acrylics and my beloved polyester paper, a durable and sturdy material with just the right degree of transparency for my needs.
What emotions or thoughts do you hope to evoke in the viewer when they experience your work?
Augmenting through repetition is what I observe in nature—a glimpse of that magic resonating in my work is more than I could hope for. I have always been driven by a desire to create hope by evoking a sense of joy.
Can you tell us about any current projects or exhibitions?
My solo show titled “Game Over. Let’s Stop Now,” will be on view in Dubai at the Sevil Dolmaci gallery from November 26th till January 1st. It is a curated selection of 33 pieces I created specially for this exhibition. I would describe the series as a bold, simplified, and lucid reinterpretation of my folded paintings.
Interview by Inna Logunova
Photo courtesy by Elvan Alpay