Deniz Satır –Something Is Bugging Me

Gallery 25.3.–7.5.2023

Known for her flamboyant rug works, Deniz Satır's solo exhibition combines traditional tufting techniques with contemporary themes. The Jyväskylä-based artist's exhibition includes a large, 140-piece installation Ommetaphobia among her latest works.

The works in Something Is Bugging Me exhibition reflect on distress about gender stereotypes and role expectations. In particular, the artist is troubled by the impact the socials norms and structures have on women's lives. The artist questions whether women have really control over their own lives and a genuine possibility to be themselves. Some of the works climb and spread along the walls of the exhibition space. The theme of spreading has come into the artist's work through the illness of a close family member. 

In Satır's works, distressing thoughts are often transferred in colourful and even humorous ways. The artist has developed her own recognisable style, characterised by strong, clear figures and bright colours. Satır makes her works by hand, using mainly the techniques of tufting and crochet.

Satır started making works using craft techniques only after moving to Finland in 2017. The artist has been inspired by colourful textiles all her life in Turkey especially through her grandmother’s and mother’s extensive textile collections. Satır's choice of technique was inspired by the Finnish rug tradition though.

She was fascinated by the idea of what could be expressed through the format of traditional wall rug and the contrast between a technique associated with traditional motives and contemporary political images. 

The title of the exhibition refers to the social injustices against individuals that distress the artist. 

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Deniz Satır (b. 1993, USA) is a Turkish-Kurdish visual artist based in Jyväskylä. She studied law at Marmara University in Istanbul, from which she graduated in 2020. Satir moved to Jyväskylä in 2017 and has since then studied weaving at Jyväskylä Educational Consortium Gradia and visual communication design.