Has it ever occurred to you that you can rest your soul by rocking?

Swing.

Article and Interview Ummuhan Kazanc

 Isn't it one of the most beautiful memories of our childhood when we swing on a swing? You must remember the breeze of the wind touching our faces and hair as we rise towards the sky, and the butterflies of happiness flying in our stomachs as we lift our feet off the ground.

 There is a brand new swing model that will bring out your inner child, make your children happy as well as you, and feel your soul calming while swinging. It is impossible not to admire these swing designs. The swing named "Swing" designed by Iwona Kosicka really creates a reform in swing form. While its round form and simple, minimalist but strong lines adapt to any space it is used, it will also be an important element of your decoration. Swings that you can install in your living space, bedroom, garden, balcony or patio will add a high-quality design, style, aesthetics and elegance to the space. It is an ideal choice not only at home but also in your office to relieve stress and relax during breaks.

With the swings that do not take up much space as they are hung on the ceiling, you can create your own resting corner either outside or in open spaces. Addressing different tastes and architectural styles with its color options such as gold, silver, copper, oak, and natural wood, the swing is a contemporary sculpture-accessory option for those who like to be different and live the extraordinary.

Iwona Kosicka.

Swing designer Iwona Kosicka answered our questions about this special design.

Dear Mrs. Iwona Kosicka, how did you decide to design a swing? How was your impressing Swing design born?

Swings have been created to give interiors a breath of life and to break out of the concept of ordinary rocking chairs. In my project work I searched for a form that will serve my clients for many years. I bet on timeless minimalism. A seat hanging from a ceiling looks intriguing and ensures no one walks by without a glance. Swings are especially suited for lovers of geometrical lines and those who value frugal forms and good quality.

 

How many color and model options are there?

It can be said that there is no limit on hues and finishes. Basic colors are natural oak, lightly bleached, white and black. We paint with bespoke colors from RAL and NCS palettes. We also offer an exclusive version that is covered with schlagmetal in gold, silver and copper. Schlagmetal is a thin piece of metal that is applied by hand. It’s a traditional gilding technique, so those products are very exclusive.

Swing can easily fit different kind of environments. What do you think?

Certainly! Swings have a perfect circle shape, and that makes them suit all kinds of styles and interiors. It brings me great joy to watch new applications with their use. They beautifully complete projects without dominating the space. The lightness of form is in a harmonious balance with the existing environment. In the Helsinki City Museum anyone can see how many positive emotions “Swing” can inspire, whole flocks of people have been swaying from swings hanging from the ceiling. My swings can also be found, among other places, inside the lobby of the Parisian hotel Marriott, Boutique Hotel Babylonstoren in RPA, numerous buildings, showrooms and restaurants around the whole world, Tokyo University, Alegro shopping center in Portugal.

Swing.

Swing is really perfect in terms of design. But also its production is also flawless, excellent. What is the production secret behind the swing?

During manufacturing, we use the best materials, and ideal circle form requires great precision that is only reachable for masters of woodcraft. I am honored to work with such craftsmen. I view balanced development as manufacturing and buying things that are both durable and useful, and suited for individual needs. I’m concerned about the fate of the natural environment that surrounds us, and therefore all swings are made to order. To create our furniture, we utilize almost every piece of obtained material. This way of thinking is rooted in my childhood, when my dad had been in charge of a carpenter shop. He always stressed that success is dependent on two basic ideas: uncompromising engagement in best craftsmanship and unique designs. This is the mental inheritance that shaped my artistic DNA.

Can you introduce yourself for when etwas Andres’s blog readers?

I’m a designer that has graduated from the Art Academy in Wrocław. The base of my work is the value of traditional craftsmanship and respect for good materials and their origin. I create items with simple lines and functional design. In my design and carpenter workshop oaken tables, furniture and intriguing lamps, like “Birds” shaped like sitting birds, are being made. We offer a variety of scandinavian-styled additions, functional and always crafted from natural materials. Personally I love nature, good books and a healthy kitchen. I photograph, paint and in my spare time ride a bicycle and walk mountains. I constantly try to adhere to the philosophy of gratitude and balance. I’m striving to hold on to happiness.

Swaing, Photography Pauline van der Gulik.

FOR MORE INFO

www.wohnenetwasanders.de

Love, Passion, Energy and Colors: Art of Dodo Newman

Dodo Newman.

Interview by Ummuhan Kazanc

Dear Dodo Newman, I want to start our interview with your striking Words about Passion and Love: “Passion cannot be learned, cannot be faked or copied. It is something that burns like fire, and if not kept alive, it soon can burn out. The source of my Passion has always been Love, Love from people being inspired by what I create and what I can give back.” Can we say that these sentences are the main idea or philosophy of ​​the art of Dodo Newman?

That is exactly what I would say! The main energy that fuels all that I create is Love for what I do, why I do it and what I get back. This is the cycle of energy that creates worlds.

This energy has to be taken care of and nurtured every day, which doesn’t always happen. I have also had many phases on my journey when this flame faded or I thought was completely gone.

It took me a while to realize that it is never gone actually, it is there but we need to reach out to and bring it to the surface, and then use it wisely. We only see this light when we are in the dark and we learn how to do it only when the light has faded.

Love is joy and freedom, which are my main energies I need to create in every part of my life.

Dodo Newman, Dance of Joy, Acryl, Öl auf Leinwand, 120x160 cm.

You have grown up in a diplomatic family and you have traveled all around the world. You have been to many countries: India, Iran, Italy, England, USA, France, and Monaco. You were born in Hungary and live in Germany. It is like a colorful photograph from a mystical world. Can we say that colors of your paintings have roots from all around the world?

Definitely. I love to imagine myself as the One who brings back colors to those who left them behind or forgot about them. It is so easy to blend into our everyday life and forget that we all have colorful imaginations, unique visions, traits, characteristics and life experiences that no one has ever had or ever will have.

As much as diverse we are all over the world, so much so we are connected and one. We are different in are uniqueness and yet we are interconnected, interlaced.

What affects one, effects everyone else and everything: people, animals, plants, nature, our planet and the unseen. Since we are all connected, we have to take care of all this.

My intention is to bring back this sense of Oneness that makes life so special.

It is a paradox, because we are different and yet One, not separate, united by a Life energy that connects us. It is this mystery and wonder that I bring back through my art, my writings, my talks, speeches, and videos, in whatever form of expression I choose.

Dodo Newman, Life energy II, Acryl, Pigmente, Öl auf Leinwand, 80x100 cm.

At what stage of your life did you decide to be interested in art? When was the breaking point?

As a child, I was always in my imagination and very creative. I was always creating something, whether it was drawing, knitting, and sewing, putting things together. As I grew up, I went to several art courses, summer schools and learned the basics from artists themselves.

Even though the form of art always changed - I first wanted to be an animator, then I started to learn to become a fashion designer - it was always something to do with creativity. There was never a doubt in me that I will follow something creative.

I had some phases in my life when I faced challenges and did not make art, burying it deep inside, and I seemed to have lost this direction in life, and yet art surfaced and found me every time.

I think the breaking point when I decided to really focus fully on making art was when I came out to Berlin, Germany in the end of 2008. I had this determination in me that no one could take away and, notwithstanding challenges and obstacles - I moved to Berlin to make and give art.

But then again, I had other breaking points on this path, like the one when I really hit rock bottom some years ago. Following a personal life situation of break that resulted in everything fall apart around me, I almost gave up art and found back to it step-by-step. As someone living from my creative energies, it is linked to my life closely and so I had to come back to it in a way as I built back my life from scratch, brick by brick.

This is why I wrote the Book “Creating Again” during the pandemic, which is planned to come out this year, to give back to other artists and creatives who have or are going through similar challenges and obstacles - especially during these tough times - from my life experiences and learnings.

I also created recently an online course on it, which gives practical guidance as well to those who might feel lost in our world, believing they have lost their creative energies as well.

Art is not only something that I do because I love it, but somehow I believe it is part of my life purpose to contribute to transformation through my art and its message, there is a deep energy that pushes and guides me to follow this path.

I always say that I don’t do art, but art is me and through it I can give and be part of a bigger creation.

Dodo Newman, Swimming in calm and joy, Acryl, Pigmente, Öl auf Leinwand, 80x60 cm.

Bold colors and forms, use of space and light are very striking in your works of art. They are full of energy. What is your secret? Can we easily define your style as Abstract Expressionism?

I believe that is the style that it can be categorized into, at least that is what my master-teacher told me when I first learned techniques with him. I also felt more inspired by the Abstract Expressionists. But my art is also lyrical and full of movement, expressing energies.

The space and energy has an interesting story and meaning in my path and art I create.

I never had the chance to learn art academically, but at one point I was approached by a well-known artist at that time in Hungary. He said he wanted to teach me all the possible techniques that can help me express myself through art.

When I first took my paintings to him for consideration, he said he could see that I lacked the skills that you can learn through discipline in a school.

But he said I brought out the sense of space and spaciousness in my artworks that no one can learn, because it is something we are born with, it is within. He found that this inherent and naturally expressing space was my main characteristic of my art.

This has been my main moving element ever since. I was always fascinated by energies, the movement of things that we cannot see with our eyes, the unseen universe. For example, our emotions inside are all energies that move in our inner space. The ideas and thoughts we have is energy form, Life itself is energy Source, from which all humans, and everything on our planet lives through.

I express this energy through the dance of light and colors, forms and textures that are in contrast and that sometimes fall apart to then come together in a sort of dance.

Dodo Newman, Layers unfolding, Acryl, Öl auf Leinwand, 100x80 cm.

You have ties with Monaco and Royal Family. Could you tell us about this exciting project?

I wouldn’t say ties, but I had connection to Monaco through one of my symbolical artwork that I created for Princess Charlene of Monaco. Since my life is interlaced with the art I create, this project was also a reflection of my life then when I created it.

I was pregnant with my daughter, when I envisioned this project as a symbol of love and union for the Princess of Monaco. As I was often visiting Monaco for private reasons at that time, the piece of artwork was linked to Monaco as well.

The whole artwork is a piece full of symbols. It is created with resin and pigments on Plexiglas, cut in the middle by a wave that divides the two piece. The two parts are connected and yet divided, meaning our lives and people we meet are connected too and yet we are unique.

The main colors are various shades of purple, the favorite color of the Princess, and oyster colors, which are fable-like and mysteriously changing. I love this play of colors as they change during the different times of the day and seasons.

There is a big piece of coal on each part of the artwork, surrounded by many small diamonds. This symbolizes the cycle of life and death that is part of our human lives.

One side of the artwork was donated to the Princess and the other was bought privately.

For me, this artwork is more than its obviously luxurious materials and links to Monaco. As I was pregnant then and while I was creating, I was looking forward to bring forth a new life into the world.

My daughter is another gift from life, through her I have discovered more of my true Self, and have deepened my meaning for life. In that period I experienced immense joy and also pain, sorrow. Both of these parts of emotions are present in our lives. We cry and laugh, and then we laugh again.

Expecting her gave me new beginnings and a knowing that life is a wonderful adventure if you look at it and live it that way. So, that piece of project is linked to life, love and my daughter.

100th Anniversary of the Titanic Cultural Commemorative Project was inspired by you. Could you share your experiences?

Whenever I have a project, a vision in mind they all have meanings behind them. Just as the piece for the Princess of Monaco, this project dedicated to the legendary ship of Titanic also had a deeper meaning.

There were 43 nations on board the Titanic ship, all seeking out a dream and envisioning a new start in America, a new land. They were filled with hope, people from an incredible variety of backgrounds, gender, cultures, life experiences, guided by faith and hope, all in one boat.

We are all in one boat, just as those people then and there. We are all One, no matter where we come from. We are joined by hope, life, death and the dreams of creating our lives.

What I enjoyed most is that I collaborated with 13 embassies in Germany, with nations who were also onboard the Titanic. They collaborated on the Publication we created for this project and I also had my works displayed at some embassies. My art can be found also in some of these embassies.

It was very interesting to see how these embassies contributed with cultural knowledge to the project even though they were different. We all worked in harmony because of the story, the meaning it had. I love stories that uplift, because they teach and inspire us.

This project is dedicated to my grandmother, who was my hero. She was a Holocaust survivor and yet she was an amazingly uplifting and wise person. She was strong and full of energy all through her life.

As you see, my art reflects my life as well because as I said before, art is me.

What are your next, future project plans?

Since space is something I have been contemplating since I am a child, I am planning to create around this theme, the inner and outer space or universe. Whatever we see around us is within us as well. The journey outside starts with the journey within. The more we discover of our external universe, the more we realize that all that is inside of us as well. Somehow, the outer and the inner universe is connected, again a mystery that opens up new visions.

I am also very interested in combining the traditional techniques with the new, digital ones. Respecting the past and combining it with innovative elements is exciting and can speak and reach to more people.

You have works of art in very important collections like Saudi Royal family, Monaco Royal Family. What do you feel when you sold your works? What can you tell art lovers who are planning to buy your works?

For me, it does not matter who buys my art, who decides to live with them and who collects them, whether it is royalty or not. What really matters is what my art makes you feel.

If you feel different, reminding you, taking you somewhere else, moving and making you contemplate on deeper things, then I have given you something through my art.

Buying is an important element, because it keeps the energy alive and contributes to making more art. I live through this cycle of energy.

Bringing someone joy as they see my art and imagine and put it in their environments, living with it is a special bond between artist and buyer/collector.

I have collectors all over the world and I love to think that pieces of my story, imagination and vision are spread over in different homes, places in different parts of the world.

Art is more than decoration, it brings a piece of inner world to life. When someone decides to buy my artwork, decides to have a piece of this inner energy as well, and makes it their own.

Just as every artwork I create has a story around it, every artwork that someone buys has a special story, meaning linked to it. This link is special and it is its real value.

FOR MORE INFO

www.wohnenetwasanders.de

EMRE CELALİ “PRYTANEİON” İSİMLİ SERGİSİYLE LABİRENT SANAT’TA

Emre Celali, “Yasakların Sonu - End of Bans”, 2021, ahşap panel üzerine akrilik,
42x60 cm.

Labirent Sanat, 3 Şubat - 12 Mart 2022 tarihleri arasında Emre Celali’nin, “Prytaneion” isimli ilk kişisel sergisine ev sahipliği yapıyor. Prytaneion (Kutsal Ateş), antik şehirlerde devlet yapısı ya da meclislerde bulunan halkın istediği zaman kullanabildiği ateştir. Aynı zamanda kentin kalbini de tanımlamaktadır. Emre Celali’nin Prytaneion başlıklı sergisi, insan doğa ilişkisinden yola çıkarak, toplumun doğayı kendine göre şekillendirmesini ve doğanın yapay olana karşı dönüşümünü mesele edinmektedir. Celali ateşi tüm bu dönüşüm ve tahakküm kurma sürecinin başlangıcı olarak ele almaktadır. Biz de bu sürecin şimdiki katmanında bulunmaktayız.

Fragmanlarla başlayan çalışmalar, resim oluşana kadar ritimler halinde, üzerinde yaşadığımız dünya gibi katman katman ortaya çıkarken birçok aşamadan geçmektedir. Çıkan her bir çalışma öncekine tepkisellik barındırmasına rağmen bir sonraki işe de köprü oluşturmaktadır. İnsan manzaralarının düzeni, kendisine karşı net olanın aksine karışıklık içermektedir. İnsanları birbirine bağlayan yollar aynı zamanda parçalar halinde bizi birbirimizden ayırmakta ve uzaklaştırmaktadır. Geçmişten günümüze gelen bu oluşumlardaki sessizlik, yeni bir fırtınanın da habercisidir. Köşe kapmaca savaşı çoktan bitse de çatışma devam etmektedir. Celali’nin resimlerinde bir nevi artık toplum psikolojisinin ne yönde gittiğinin manzarasına bakılmaktadır. Bu manzaralar, bizlerin birer oto portresi olarak da yorumlanabilmektedir.

Emre Celali, Yeşil Düzenleme, 2019, Tuval Üzerine Akrilik ve Yağlı Boya,
Diptik, 120x180 cm.

Manzaralarda, günlük yaşam çalışmalara sızmaktadır. Yollar, araziler, yerleşim yerleri, ulaşım araçlarının tasviri, yaşamın nasıl hissettirdiğine dair bir atmosfer ve bakışı sunarken; çalışmalar dinginlik ve gerilim, tehdit ve güven gibi tezatlık oluşturan, hissedilir durumları da barındırmaktadır. Celali’nin resimlerinde çevre ve imge yaşam izlerine sadık kalırken, dünyaya ve zamana dair geniş bağı da ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Bu izler eşzamanda farklı zamanlara da dikkat çekmektedir. Zaman kapsülündeki eski çalışmalar, bu yoldaki işaretleri gösterirken; çalışmalarda fark edilen antik buluntularda bizlerinde iz olarak geleceğe kalacağının işareti gibi hissedilmektedir. Serginin kavramsal çerçevesini oluşturan ateş, bu bağların ilk ilmeği ve adeta bizim de son olmadığımızın göstergesi gibidir.

Sergide yer alan manzaralarda kentin kalbini besleyen büyük arazileri, kentlerin etrafında insanın ateşi kontrol altına aldığı gibi doğayı da kontrol altına alışına tanıklık ediyoruz. Toplulukların müdahalesinin az olduğu manzaralarda, kentin kalbinden de uzak olduğumuzu hissederiz. Kutsal ateşten uzaklaştıkça doğanın büyülü atmosferine gireriz. Kentin kalbinden doğaya doğru dinginlik hissedilirken, bir yandan da tekinsizlik duyulur. Ne kadar büyüleyici o kadar tehlikeli; doğa artık kendi kanununu geçerli kılmaktadır. Bir anlamda içten dışa doğru yönelme (kaçma) isteği varken aslında hep bir ip/yol bizi kentin kalbine bağlamaktadır. Bu ip kutsal ateş ile bir güven bağı oluşturma arzusuyla geçmişten günümüze korunarak devam etmiştir.

Emre Celali’nin son dönem işlerinin yer aldığı Prytaneion isimli ilk kişisel sergisini 12 Mart 2022 tarihine dek Labirent Sanat’ta görebilirsiniz.

 

Labirent Sanat

Çatma Mescit Mah. Tepebaşı Cad. No: 56 K: 2 34430, Beyoğlu / İstanbul

Ziyaret saatleri: Salı - Cumartesi: 11.00 - 19.00

Detaylı bilgi için: info@labirentsanat.com | +90 531 712 45 25

 

Emre Celali, “İsimsiz”, tuval üzerine akrilik, 113x180 cm.

EMRE CELALİ KİMDİR

Emre Celali 1989 yılında İzmir’de doğdu. Lisansını Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Resim bölümünde tamamladı. İzmir Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsünde Resim anasanat dalı lisansüstü programına devam etmektedir. Atölye çalışmalarını İzmir’de sürdürmektedir. Çalışmalarında insan manzaralarının düzeni, kendisine karşı net olanın aksine karışıklık içerir. İnsanları birbirine bağlayan yollar aynı zamanda parçalar halinde ayırmaktadır, uzaklaştırmaktadır. Geçmişten günümüze gelen bu oluşumlardaki tekinsiz sessizlik yeni bir fırtınanın habercisidir. Köşe kapmaca savaşı çoktan bitse de çatışma devam edecektir. Artık toplum psikolojisinin ne yönde gittiğinin manzarasına bakılmaktadır. Bu manzaralar, bizlerin bir oto portresi olarak görülebilir.