Bunch of People
Are you ready to meet the calm, still figures that inhabit Ayşe Pirinççioğlu's paintings? Speaking about the works in her debut exhibition, Pirinççioğlu says: “The people in my mind had always been there, but they became especially visible during the pandemic lockdowns. Strangely enough, being away from crowds during that time made me feel happy. Stepping away from the overwhelming crowds of the city, the world, and everyday life—things that tire us without us even realizing it—became a kind of purification for me. That’s when I started drawing quiet, silent, still people.”
The idea behind “Bunch of People” emerged during that period. Pirinççioğlu describes the abstract figures and situations in her paintings as follows: “My people are all different. These imaginary figures feel as if they are posing for me. Even though most of them don’t have faces, a pattern in their clothing or a color in their lines carries many clues about them. Most are cheerful, hopeful, colorful characters. I usually work abstractly, but in the end my works are figurative. When I asked myself why working figuratively makes me so happy, I realized it takes me back to my childhood. As a child, I always drew people in art class—children flying balloons, women washing clothes by the river, people dancing… There were always people in my drawings. My figures today are calmer and more still, but they are just as colorful as those from my childhood.”
Alongside her interest in painting, Pirinççioğlu also...