Spotlight
Spotlight Artist Çağla Ulusoy
Championed by Ivan Seal
Above Passport, Sarah Maple
ONES TO
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Above Çağla Ulusoy by Begüm Yamanlar
Interview
Çağla Ulusoy
Photography
Begüm Yamanlar
Interview
Çağla Ulusoy
Photography
Begüm Yamanlar
Heavy layers of paint, intensely gestural brushwork, and characterful colours: Turkish artist Çağla Ulusoy’s semi-abstract paintings surge with narratives, hinting at the familiar but stopping short of conclusive forms. Ulusoy’s process is rooted in photography: she archives scenes that captivate her, scenes that may look everyday but that contain something ambiguous and sincere. From recording these visual vignettes, Ulusoy then works with intuition to construct “my own visual language by uncovering and deconstructing the essence of the things I encounter, concentrating on unveiling the connections between these elements, whether they are objects, people, sounds or spaces,” the Istanbul-born, Bermondsey-based artist told The Wick.
Ulusoy trained at ESDI in Paris, then moved to New York, where she attended classes at the famous Art Student’s League of New York, whose alumni include Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko and Ai Weiwei to name only a handful. It was there that Ulusoy met Pat Lipsky, the American Color Field painter, who became a mentor to Ulusoy and made a profound impact on her work. Ulusoy later moved to London and in 2018 she completed her MA in painting at the Royal College of Art.
Ulusoy trained at ESDI in Paris, then moved to New York, where she attended classes at the famous Art Student’s League of New York, whose alumni include Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko and Ai Weiwei to name only a handful. It was there that Ulusoy met Pat Lipsky, the American Color Field painter, who became a mentor to Ulusoy and made a profound impact on her work. Ulusoy later moved to London and in 2018 she completed her MA in painting at the Royal College of Art.
British painter and sound artist Ivan Seal, a lecturer at the Royal College of Art, is Ulusoy’s champion for The Wick. He says: “Çagla forages deep into her cultural identity, sampling and quoting high and low references. Colours and forms that are carefully and respectfully picked from a vast history and vibrant present. By placing herself in front of the canvas she uses the opportunity of colour and paint to access presents, futures and pasts, personal and political at the same moment, time travel and shape-shifting to bring us paintings full of stories and identity. Çagla’s paintings can be likened to diamonds: each is a meticulously crafted and distinctive entity, reflecting and uncovering a multitude of facets and shards of a culture that is not merely observed but also experienced.”
The tension and vibrancy that bubbles in the surfaces of Ulusoy’s works might also be attributed to her transcultural experiences, and her knowledge of the history and traditions of western and eastern cultures she has lived in. Sometimes harmonious, sometimes cacophonous, these tensions contribute to the ambiguous sense of space the artist strives for her in paintings. In the borders Ulusoy paints within, you might also trace the shape of postcards – an inspiration for the artist, and a neat metaphor for her thematic interests, turning the little things you notice, the way your senses are attuned to the minutiae as a foreigner, into mementos to share with loved ones.
Currently, Ulusoy is working on a collection of 100 collages: each features a different painting, integrated with photographs she has taken, a unique chance to see the relationship and exchange between the two mediums the artist has long-favoured but kept separate – the book will be released in October. But a recent commission Ulusoy is especially proud of, “the most meaningful work I have done so far” – a painting for the American Hospital of Istanbul. Her largest painting to date, Ulusoy says that “knowing that it will bring joy and potentially offer comfort to many people makes this project particularly special to me.”
As Ulusoy’s sure-footed ascent in the art world continues, there’s also something exciting on the horizon – a solo show with a major international art fair she has long dreamed of participating in. But we’ll have to wait to find out which it is – “I can not reveal the name of the fair yet!”
The tension and vibrancy that bubbles in the surfaces of Ulusoy’s works might also be attributed to her transcultural experiences, and her knowledge of the history and traditions of western and eastern cultures she has lived in. Sometimes harmonious, sometimes cacophonous, these tensions contribute to the ambiguous sense of space the artist strives for her in paintings. In the borders Ulusoy paints within, you might also trace the shape of postcards – an inspiration for the artist, and a neat metaphor for her thematic interests, turning the little things you notice, the way your senses are attuned to the minutiae as a foreigner, into mementos to share with loved ones.
Currently, Ulusoy is working on a collection of 100 collages: each features a different painting, integrated with photographs she has taken, a unique chance to see the relationship and exchange between the two mediums the artist has long-favoured but kept separate – the book will be released in October. But a recent commission Ulusoy is especially proud of, “the most meaningful work I have done so far” – a painting for the American Hospital of Istanbul. Her largest painting to date, Ulusoy says that “knowing that it will bring joy and potentially offer comfort to many people makes this project particularly special to me.”
As Ulusoy’s sure-footed ascent in the art world continues, there’s also something exciting on the horizon – a solo show with a major international art fair she has long dreamed of participating in. But we’ll have to wait to find out which it is – “I can not reveal the name of the fair yet!”
About the champion
Ivan Seal is an English painter and sound artist based in Berlin, specialising in surreal and abstract works that explore concepts of memory, free association and the creation of imaginary objects arranged in a painterly non-space. He has exhibited internationally in galleries, institutions and off-spaces, most recently at Podo Museum, Korea (2024). In 2019 he presented a large-scale installation at Frac Avenge, France, with his long-standing collaboration with musician Leyland Kirby, also known as The Caretaker. This collaboration has seen Seal create artwork for their critically acclaimed albums: An Empty Bliss Beyond this World and the six-part album series Everywhere at the End of Time, both of which explore themes of memory loss through the long-term mental decline brought on by dementia. Seal also works as a lecturer at the Royal College of Art and as a mentor for the Turps correspondence course.
