Hazal Özgür’s third solo exhibition, Phantasma, explores psychological dreamscapes that oscillate between reality and imagination. Drawing on shadows encountered during her nighttime walks, Özgür builds fantastical compositions where figurative elements dissolve into allusions of light and color fields. The exhibition will be on view at Galeri Bosfor from October 15 to November 14.
Özgür completes each painting by continuously reassessing the relationships between color, composition, and light. Throughout this process, large sections of the canvas are covered over and painted repeatedly. Some forms and brushstrokes recede into the background, while others unexpectedly come to the fore. Ultimately, the finished painting bears only a faint resemblance to the collage from which it began. The artist likens her studio practice to walking through a pitch-dark tunnel with a dim flashlight: she cannot fully see what lies ahead, only her immediate surroundings. In a sense, the darkness that is essential to the initial moments of observation, becomes a core element of the process of making, shaped by uncertainty and discovery.