Art as a temporal ‘Cocoon'

Located in Anel Trade Center in Levent, Gallery 5 is hosting Defne Tesal's solo exhibition "Cocoon" until Jan. 22, 2016. The artist has turned the outdoor area of the gallery into a workshop and included art lovers into her production process. Commenting on her exhibition, Tesal said, "A cocoon is a shelter that protects a seed or chrysalis within itself. I aimed to build myself a shelter in a place that I am not familiar with via this installation. The title 'Cocoon' emerged out of the idea of shelter and the material as well as the technique I used for the installation. I wove a web between the walls with white fiber."



Tesal's installation, which consists of white fibers - the same color as the walls - stretching toward the ceiling, plays with the architecture and light of the exhibition area, becoming a part of the venue. The artist sometimes worked the white fiber in an orderly manner while at other times weaving more chaotically. She preferred not to touch any of the defects. The installation brings order and disorder together and creates fluidity and perspective with the fibers while revealing small details and mistakes.

The "Cocoon" installation will be dismantled and will disappear at the end of the exhibition, like the cocoon of a caterpillar. Commenting on the process, Tesal said, "I wanted to create an art work that belongs to a certain venue. The most exciting thing about this exhibition is that I will dismantle every piece of the installation and make it disappear forever. I wanted to feel the temporality of life by creating a work that cannot be moved or stored. The cocoon exists in a single place and when it is moved, it losses its function and disappears."

About Defne Tesal


"The most exciting thing about this exhibition is that I will dismantle every piece of the installation and make it disappear forever. I wanted to feel the temporality of life by creating a work that cannot be moved or stored. The cocoon exists in a single place and when it is moved, it loses it function," Tesal said.

Born in Istanbul, the artist graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University's Department of Stage Décor and Costume in 2010. Following her graduation, she began to take an interest in fibers and textile art. The artist, who usually works with fibers and fabrics, creates two or three dimensional works by weaving, knitting, tying knots and paints. She held her first solo exhibition in 2013 at Gallery Artist Çukurcuma and organized her first international exhibition in France's Domaine de Forges, in 2014. The artist has participated in various group exhibitions, including 2015 SVA Open Studio exhibition in New York, 2014 International textile Artists Exhibition "Intersection," and "Scenofest" in Prague. She also attended the SVA Artists Residence program in 2015, in New York. Tesal lives and works in Istanbul.