Page 256 - ArtUnlimited

DAGmAR GoEGDUEN

Born in germany. Lives and works in Istambul, Turkey
www.dagmargogdun.com

The best way to describe me is that I am an ”environmental fighter” and
that I feel deeply sorry for each plant or animal disappearing from our
planet. Turkey, where I am living for more than 40 years, possesses one of
the richest flora in Europe; but unfortunately due to lack of interest, wrong
building policy, etc, rare flowers are exterminated day by day. This fact has
influence on my art; in each of my exhibitions I try to emphasize this problem.
One of my exhibitions ”Endangered Beauty” was on endemic flowers in
Turkey. One on wild orchids, because Turkey possesses most of wild orchids
in Europe; another exhibition was on tulips - the first tulip bulb was taken
from Turkey to Europe; another exhibition was on cactuses which I saw during
my stay in the deserts of Mexico. I try to paint these small creatures with all
their details like filaments, wrinkles, color shades, etc in large dimensions
in order to show their real beauty; for me each flower is an unique example
of harmony in shape and color... My friends often ask me why I don’t stop
painting flowers. well, this has several reasons: Due to the profession of my
father, we stayed several years in Monclova/Mexico, at that time a small
village surrounded by deserts.


 AMApoLA I, 2014 OIL ON CANvAS 23.5X23.5 IN. | 60X60 CM.
  AMApoLA II, 2014 OIL ON CANvAS 27.5X27.5 IN. | 70X70 CM.
In the year of 1954 we had of course no air condition, and since the existing
heat did not even cool down in the evening, my father often drove us to
the near by desert in order to get some relief. There were of course many
cactuses, and since they open their blooms at night, I was already as a
child fascinated by their colors, shapes and fragrance. Another reason is
my acquaintance with Fatih Orbay, one of the most famous photographer
and producer of documentary films in Turkey. From him I learned that Turkey
possesses one of the richest flora and most endemic flowers in Europe. His
unique photos always give me as great stimulation for my flower paintings.
Dagmar attended the Mimar Sinan Academy of Fine Arts as a guest
student and took private lessons from the assistants Tanju Demirci and
Irfan önürmen. She opened her first solo exhibition in 1996 and since
then she had several solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group
exhibitions. The artist is working in Istanbul.

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