Three of my carved wood artworks are published in this Art Magazine.

“Beautiful visions, which illustrates the distinct personality of the artist Gultekin Bilge which, thanks to its individuality of expression, enriches the heritage of contemporary art. The artist rejects the traditional rules for working with free pictorial language. In his works we find the importance of the subject, dictated by the light of reason in combination with the sensitivity of his soul. The images are complex and steeped in a range of colours that strongly shapes the thinking predetermined by the artist. Here then is expressive signs and small forms emerging from the power of colour amalgamating the whole of the overall shape of the deep message.”

Prof.ssa Anna F. Biondolillo
Critico d’arte e Presidente dell’Ass. Artistica “Il Tempio”

All of the artworks are from my Carved Wood Series.

Static Dynamic (2014)

“STATIC DYNAMIC” is a visual expression of the invisible tensions that exist between creative, dynamic energy as opposed to the seemingly passive, static force of resistance. The light blue lines radiating out from the central image signify the fractures that emerge in personal, social, and political relationships, between those who want change and those who want to maintain the status quo. The large profile on the right hand side symbolises that the balance of energy between static and dynamic is continually shifting in the whole of human life on Earth. These energy shifts have major consequences for individual experience and family relationships, but also form the social, cultural, economic and political contexts that influence the history of the human race.

WRONGS AND RIGHTS IN OUR LIFE (2014)

I called this composition of three pieces of carved “WRONGS AND RIGHTS IN OUR LIFE”.

I created it as a symbol of the human condition. The top round piece represents the human head thinking about past, present and future.  My feeling is that  each human is a collection of their past experiences, present awareness and future wishes. The central curved shape represents the passage of one human life. In every moment this life connects the past, present and future, flowing through time like a river. Running through the central curved piece are many different segments with abstract images and portraits, each representing significant events and relationships that formed the life. The bottom round piece contains many images representing memories of past experience. It poses the question “how can we forget?”

The central theme is that throughout any life there will be things that go wrong and things that go right, their will be good choices and bad choices, opportunities taken and opportunities missed, good behaviour and bad behaviour. My question is how much do humans learn and develop, and how much do they keep repeating the same mistakes in a slightly different setting.

As for one human, so for all humanity. The human race may make social, technological, and cultural progress, but I wonder if this creates a better world or whether there is an endless cycle of repeating the same old mistakes against the backdrop of successive centuries.

UNKNOWN ROOTS (2014)

The central image in “UNKNOWN ROOTS” contains ‘primitive’ faces representing ancient ancestors, reaching out from far back in time. They seem very vibrant, clear and strong, unlike the shadowy images representing modern humans who do not know their roots.

I feel that many modern humans have no sense of where they come from.  History is littered with mass movements of humanity caused by political and social upheaval, war, famine and the need to escape from persecution. Many people today are rootless and many have lost their attachment to the earth and to the natural world. This creates a society where people become heavily attached to transient modern trends and material goods in order to gain status and develop a sense of identity.

This is the superficial mask of modern humanity, soulless and disconnected from the heart.