I GREW UP ON THE ROCK

• The exhibition titled "I Grew Up on the Rock," which centers on the artistic practice of ceramic artist Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç, opened in collaboration with Galeri Nev and hosted by Galerist, with the support of Kale Design and Art Center (KTSM). The exhibition, which ran from January 15th to February 21st, brought together artists from different disciplines.

Following "Memories of a Sea Urchin," which took place at the Erimtan Archaeology and Art Museum in 2024, the exhibition presented Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç's works alongside those of other artists whose ideas, understanding of form, and relationship with materials mirrored hers. While "Memories of a Sea Urchin" treated the artist's practice as an inwardly focused, layered space of production, "I Grew Up on a Rock" explored how the forms and intellectual orientations emanating from this universe resonated in the practices of other artists.

The exhibition at Galerist brought together Abasıyanık, who nourished her ceramics with countless drawings, watercolors, photographs, and installations, constantly translating from one material to another, with artists who delved into different channels in their practices. The selection, consisting of works by Deniz Aktaş, Ece Bal, Gökhun Baltacı, İlhan Berk, Zeynep Kayan, Thiago Rocha Pitta, Anıl Saldıran, Johanna Seidel, Elif Uras, and Burcu Yağcıoğlu, also expanded towards Ilhan Berk's verses and another of Abasıyanık's sacred themes: literature. Thus, viewers experienced all the rich dimensions of ceramics.

Rather than establishing a hierarchical center-periphery relationship, the practices featured in the exhibition created a pluralistic encounter where each maintained its own language and autonomy. In these encounters, the works of other artists connected with the idea of ​​repetition, cyclicality, and recurrence that is evident in Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç's work; sometimes through the converging lines of forms, sometimes through symbolic affinities and visual mimicry, they were incorporated into her world. Here, repetition appeared not merely as a manifestation of obsession, but as a space of thought where form multiplies by curling in on itself, shifts direction with subtle deviations, and meaning moves silently.