London-based draughtsperson Hira Gedikoglu was born in 1994 in Adana, Turkey. After graduating from the University of Oxford with a First Class Degree in Fine Art, she completed her postgraduate diploma at the Royal Drawing School in 2019. Hira’s abstract works are a biographical exploration of womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood, religion, familial dynamics and tension, usually within a Turkish - and personal - cultural context. The artist works in series, and each project is a continuation and further exploration of the last, often in a different visual medium.
In Hira’s recent portrait and figure works, she amalgamates diverse characters and locations inspired by Ottoman and Renaissance paintings. She combines this imagery with her photographs taken in Istanbul, creating new and nostalgic narratives. Drawing from observation is a consistent and fundamental part of her practice and often the starting point of her visual curiosity, as is story-telling and layering. Hira uses mixed media - from pencil and charcoal to tempera painting - and layering to construct, re-imagine and deconstruct landscapes. Often collaging elements of Ottoman seals, maps and iconography from South-East Turkey, Hira tells her stories.
Recent exhibitions include Showing Flag: Installation and Film (Oxford, 2020), Best of the Drawing Year: Drawing (Christie's, 2019), and The Greek Street Art Show: Drawing (Soho). The emerging artist has also taken part in shows at top London studios, including Guts Gallery, Malls Gallery, and the Art Hub Gallery (all 2021).
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