Ceramic voyage to the past….
By Heidi Trautmann….
www.heiditrautmann.com…..
For her third solo exhibition, the ceramic artist Semral Öztan invited us to a world of nostalgia, with memories of a happy childhood with the smell of jasmine. Typical games which were played in those days, summer nights that were spent on the roofs of houses; the old bus, red and green, connecting Cypriots with other villages…. But we also find the question: Does art cover up the bad traces of war, does art make you forget them? Symbols, many symbols hidden in each artwork. Ceramic poetry.
For just four days, Semral Öztan gave us the possibility to visit her exhibition, from 01-04 March.
A beautiful and esthetical exhibition with respect to the arrangement and framework. Her exhibition was opened with words of high respect by our President Ersin Tatar and Tüfan Erhürman, leader of CTP, the opening evening was well attended, a good occasion to meet many artists and friends we have not seen for so long due to the pandemic.
I have been following Semral Öztan over the years when she has been organizing the yearly exhibitions of the Ceramists Association as we had just been witnessing recently. She was one of the first ceramic artists in Northern Cyprus to teach the art in schools. I had an interview with her some years ago which provides an insight into her career:- click here http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx…
Semral Öztan gives her thoughts and feelings a concrete form, and with her knowledge of glazes she lets us feel the passing of time. Nostalgia. Congratulations, Semral Öztan, and I would like to answer with the beautiful Cypriot saying: “May your hands be blessed.”
