HABITAT

“Habitat" by Işık Güner is a project in three parts: A book, a performance video and an exhibition of the flora of the world. The exhibition opens in Rize - Çamlıhemşin on Friday, 19th October 2024.

HABITAT

Işık Güner

19 October – 1 November 2024

Işık Güner opens her solo exhibition examining plant biodiversity and its extinction in Çinçiva School, established in Rize - Çamlıhemşin in 1910 as a junior high school, and now standing idle.

The Habitat exhibition presents a collection of paintings by Işık Güner of wild plants from many parts of the world. The artist draws attention to endangered habitats and seeks to impress upon the viewer through visual and sensual experience the acute need to preserve these habitats.

Botanical art at its best is a graceful collaboration of nature and science. Işık Güner’s watercolor paintings represent nature in its true behaviour. The exhibition offers detailed scientific representations of rare plants in Turkey’s various wild flora regions, as well as taking the spectator on journeys through numerous other habitats, from Peru’s rain forests to arid deserts, from the tops of high Himalayan ranges to the plants found in the forests of Japan. And all this has been brought to you here in Çamlıhemşin in the wild beauty of the Fırtına valley.

Each artwork represents the plant's exact dimensions and colors. The collection includes meticulous scientific representations of Iris caucasica M.Bieb. subsp. turcica, Iris polakii f. barnumiae, Paeonia mascula (L.) Mill. subsp. mascula, enabling the viewer to discover and further explore both the scientific and aesthetic values of Turkey’s rich flora.

The performance video is a part of the Habitat triology, shown for the first time at this exhibition. It is a solo dance performance choreographed by Ebru Cansız in a costume consisting of plant designs painted by Işık Güner. In the film, Güner emphasizes the beauty of wildlife and the dangers it faces, and a stark reminder of how abruptly it ends.

Işık Güner sums up the purpose of the Habitat exhibition: “Nature is our home. We have a responsibility to protect the dwelling that she has offered us. I would like to place this responsibility onto you, the spectator."

The third part of the Habitat project is a book of the same name. Işık Güner describes her many adventures around the world in search of wild plants, together with stories told by writers and painters from other countries. Işık Güner includes in her book the various Iris species she has been chasing for years, as well as other plant varieties that she has painted from field work made since 2016 in the east and southeast of Turkey.

"Habitat" the book is a celebration of the diversity of wild plants and a plea to protect the habitats in which they flourish. In it, art and science meet, and in the encounter, a deeper understanding of the importance of habitat emerges.

Many thanks to our main sponsor Haremlique İstanbul for their generous support, Club House Bebek for their contributions, and to our host Moyy Atölye. The exhibition runs until 1 November 2024 and is must for nature and art lovers alike, indeed for all who admire paintings of precious plants.

Işık Güner, Turkey, 1983

She studied Environmental Engineering at Marmara University in Istanbul. After her graduation, 2006, she began working full time as a Botanical Artist. She has been prepared 40 plates for the book ‘Plants from the Woods and Forest of Chile’. Completing this book project took seven years and published in 2015 by RBGE. During this project, many of her paintings awarded with ‘Gold Medal’ and selected ‘Best in Show’ in international botanical art exhibitions at ‘RHS, London’ and ‘Biscot, Edinburgh’. In addition, the book has been awarded ‘Excellence in Botanical Art and Illustration’ in 2017. Following years, she involved with ‘Transylvania Florilegium’ book project was being created under the organization of the Prince Wales. ‘Beauty of Orchids, China’ and ‘Plants of Nepal’ were conservation plants projects that focused on endangered and medicinal plants. Some of her paintings from these projects are in the ‘Shirley Sherwood collection’, London, ‘Hunt Institute’, USA, ‘Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh’, Scotland. She is currently working as a tutor at Diploma Botanical Illustration at Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh and as an art editor of ‘Illustrated Flora of Turkey’. Her education book ‘Botanical Illustration from life’ has been recently published in six languages; Turkish, English, Spanish, French, Korean and Chinese.

She is travelling very often after plants to illustrate and organizing many workshops around the world. Currently she is living in Fırtına Valley, North east of Turkey, where the mountains are.

Çinçiva School:

At the initiative of the Hemşin Terakki and Teavün Society, a Rüştiye (secondary school) building was constructed in the village of Çinçiva in 1910 for children to study. This school, which continued its educational activities for many years, produced significant figures from the homeland. After the school system was centralized, the now-unused school building was revitalized under the name Fırtına Pension through the efforts of Rukiye and Selçuk Güney from Çinçiva. During this period, the building served as a center for cultural and artistic activities and became a meeting point for the valley’s ecological struggle.

Now, due to the valley's need for a cultural and artistic center, the local residents want this historic school building to be reimagined as a 'Honey Museum.'

Işık Güner's "Habitat" exhibition is an effort not only for plant conservation but also for the preservation of the region's cultural heritage.

habitat@isikguner.com

In the Press

Art Unlimited, Merve Akar Akgün

Görmek istiyorsanız gelin!

Merve Akar Akgün sanatçının Çamlıhemşin’de gerçekleşen sergisini değerlendirdi.

https://www.unlimitedrag.com/_files/ugd/9c95f9_f5e9a4ca44784623b3056f4c2284257d.pdf

Argonotlar, Esra Melike Çuluk

Zenginlik ve yok oluş arasında: “Habitat”

Işık Güner’in Çamlıhemşin’in bitki örtüsünden esinlenen “Habitat” sergisi üzerine

https://argonotlar.com/zenginlik-ve-yok-olus-arasinda-habitat/

Gazete Oksijen, Şemsa Denizsel

Habitat, bir Işık Güner sergisi

Işık Güner’in Çamlıhemşin’de açılan sergisi için kadınlar bir araya geldi... Ayvalık meyhanesi Sofia’dan şef Melike Zeytinci bir menü hazırladı. Özay Tunç halen yaşadığı Kuzey Ege’den bölgenin meraklılarının çok çok iyi bildiği barı Orman’ı sergi için Fırtına Vadisi’ne taşıdı

https://gazeteoksijen.com/yazarlar/semsa-denizsel/habitat-bir-isik-guner-sergisi-226863

Gazete Oksijen, Fem Güçlütürk

Habitat kaybına karşı bireysel çabalar önemli

Botanik ressamı Işık Güner, tüm dünyada neleri kaybetmekte olduğumuzu bizzat gözlemlemekle kalmıyor, bunları titizlikle teknik resim olarak kayda geçiriyor

https://gazeteoksijen.com/yazarlar/fem-gucluturk/habitat-kaybina-karsi-bireysel-cabalar-onemli-225729

Bant Mag

https://bantmag.com/3-soruda-isik-guner/

Magma

https://www.magmadergisi.com/sanat-haberleri/bitkilerin-ressami

Kitaptan Sanattan

https://www.kitaptansanattan.com/isik-guner-habitat-ile-rize-camlihemsinde/

Artfulliving

https://www.artfulliving.com.tr/gundem/isik-gunerin-habitat-sergisi-rize-camlihemsinde-i-31269

Sanat Okur

https://sanatokur.com/isik-gunerin-uclemeden-olusan-habitat-proje-sergisi-camlihemsinde/

Cahev