In this interview, Deniz Kurdak reflects on her evolving artistic journey, which navigates the intersections of memory, reconstruction, and cultural identity. Her practice, deeply influenced by textile art and embroidery, reinterprets traditional craft as a powerful storytelling medium. By deconstructing and reassembling chinoiserie-patterned motifs, she explores themes of fragility, resilience, and migration, drawing connections between her personal history and broader narratives of displacement. Inspired by artists like Ai Weiwei, Kurdak’s work highlights the emotional layers within fragmented forms, inviting viewers to engage with the tensions between past and present, loss and belonging.
1
This year has been incredibly fast-paced for you. While your Artists Make Space Residency continues, you are also participating in various exhibitions, including artlounge. Additionally, you have been nominated for the prestigious Young Masters Award by the renowned Cynthia Corbett Gallery. How do you feel about these achievements? What kind of projects will you be involved in next?
It has been an intense but incredibly rewarding year. Almost a year ago, my participation in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition and the Artists Make Space Residency Programme gave my practice a significant boost. Since then, taking part in various exhibitions has emphasised visibility and connect with some amazing artists and audiences. Being nominated for the Young Masters Award is a real honor, especially given its focus on artists who engage with historical themes or techniques in a contemporary way, which aligns closely with my approach to embroidery.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to be showcasing some of my work at AAF New York at the end of March, followed by a solo exhibition at Artweeks Istanbul in April.
2
Your work reinterprets embroidery as a medium for storytelling, challenging its traditional perception as mere craft. How do you see the role of textile art evolving in contemporary artistic discourse?
Textile art has always carried a dual identity, sitting between art and craft, and has historically been overlooked in artistic contexts. However, in recent years, there has been a growing recognition of its conceptual depth and narrative potential.
I see my embroidery as a way to challenge traditional hierarchies in art by merging ‘domestic’ techniques with contemporary themes like memory, identity, and reconstruction. I reimagine the meanings of cutting, stitching and mending, by introducing a concept of emotional repair and rewriting one’s own narrative. Rather than aiming for literal representation, I create symbolic work that explores fragmentation and reconstruction.
I believe textile art will continue to gain visibility, not just as a craft but as a powerful medium for storytelling and critique. It carries layers of meanings linked to labor, femininity, and resilience which makes it incredibly relevant in today’s artistic discourse.
3
The broken and reconstructed porcelain motifs in your work symbolize fragility, resilience, and personal migration. How does this visual metaphor reflect your own journey from Turkey to London?
Moving from Istanbul to London was a transformative experience, and in many ways, my work reflects that shift. The fragmented porcelain patterns serve as a way of processing displacement, not just geographically but emotionally. They speak to the idea of rebuilding a sense of self and sense of belonging in a new place.
I like to create a visual tension in my work that captures the dualities of the migrant experience: the constant push and pull between loss and reconstruction, belonging and alienation, familiarity and uncertainty.
These tensions reflect the emotional complexity of migration, where one is endlessly negotiating between past and present, rootedness and transience.
+1
Your work often features chinoiserie-patterned pottery, exploring themes of memory and reconstruction. Has Ai Weiwei's use of broken and reassembled porcelain influenced your art?
Ai Weiwei’s work has certainly made a significant impact on how broken objects can be reinterpreted as carriers of history and political meaning. His use of shattered porcelain is deeply rooted in cultural critique, whereas my approach is more personal, focusing on memory, identity, and emotional repair.
The chinoiserie motifs in my work are connected to my family’s history, particularly my grandmother’s pottery, which was a recurring visual presence in my childhood. By breaking and reassembling these patterns in embroidery, I’m reflecting on the way memory functions-how it distorts, reshapes, and reinvents the past. While there is a conceptual overlap with Ai Weiwei’s work in terms of fragmentation and reconstruction, my interest lies more in the intimate, psychological layers of these broken pieces rather than the broader socio-political implications.
“I like to create a visual tension in my work that captures the dualities of the migrant experience “
Deniz Kurdak
