By Daniel Finch
How can still art capture movement? How can one imprint the feeling and emotion of a moment upon a surface to last a lifetime? This is the struggle of artist Can Yağız.
Through his works, he looks to memories, those both physical and emotional, and how they interplay. His works are often adorned with pieces of “scrap” paper which he keeps hidden away in a drawer. These pieces of paper remind him not of a direct memory, but of who he was in that moment.
It makes him stop and think, “what was I doing when this paper came into my life? Who was that person?” The physical imprint of people on the world has always fascinated the Turkish born artist. “Like stairs worn down over time, I wonder about the people in those moments.”’
Essential to our physical memories is movement. While one might remember their first dance or a sporting event it is how our movement affects the space around us that Yağız explores. His works at the Perrotin Exhibition in Manhattan feature two Aquatints, a form of intaglio printmaking that produces beautiful effects by allowing acid to eat away at the printing plate to create reservoirs for the ink.
While Yağız used a printing plate for the Aquatints, it is the movement that makes the artwork stand out. “I was trying to hold the plate in a single place but of course I wasn’t able to,” he says when discussing the soft horizon line. So in a sense the print is made not only through direct contact with the plate, but also through the movements inherent in the artist led to a muted yet distinct landscape.
However, Yağız is far from just a print maker, as the Perrotin exhibition proves. His deep appreciation for memories bleeds into his other works, those created through multiple different mediums. Two large pieces stand out where the artist utilized soot and wax on newspaper to make large pieces mended with a variety of “scrap” paper.
These papers serve as a reminder to Yağız. A memory of who he was at the time when he saved these papers. “Some of them are pieces of dark room scraps, tiny portions of the image I used for testing and decided to save,” he says of the small images of birds which adorn the larger piece.
The piece itself was made by rubbing soot-embedded wax onto the newsprint. “I had window frames and I suspended them over the flame,” the artist says. This allowed the artist to control the heat applied onto the surface and allow for soot build up. “It was a matter of waiting for the soot and then using the wax to see what my imprint was”
Through his works, one thing remains constant, a sense of the past. Diving into memories both physical and emotional, Can Yağız uncovers the mystery behind history. His process is one that requires painstaking effort incorporating every tiny detail. His discerning eye and dedication allows the artist to express far more than a still image. Yağız creates tapestries of movement which hearken back to a person who was altogether different.
“It is hard to feel at the rate of reading. With poetry I find myself either having to slow down or if I haven’t, going back to the beginning of the sentence so my chest can catch up. What I keep in mind about what I do, and most things really, is that waiting, while might be boring, is needed”
Published by Mark V.
