About sera
Sera Boeno is a sculptor and installation artist from Istanbul, Turkey. Her praxis is research based and influenced by the sociopolitics of her motherland, which she extrapolates to her current setting. Narratives of and around women in historically silenced topics –politics, sex, religion, trauma– are central to her work; she explores these topics via para-fiction, “mockuments”, “fauxrcehology”, archival and museological language. Boeno holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College with degrees in… more
Ornaments I-VII - From the Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) Series
“Turkish lady is the ornament of her house…”
“I don’t believe in the equality of men and women... Men and women are different. They are each other’s complementary.”
And so, in 2018 the body of work has bifurcated to house a non-equal but complementary counterpart to the Monuments: a set of golden mouth Ornaments that cage the lips of its wearer in motifs from tezhip - an Ottoman manuscript Illumination style. A parallel is drawn between the relationship of tezhip and text, and that of “Woman” and “Man” for as Turkish Woman ornaments the house of her man, tezhip ornaments the house of the word, the page.
Delicate, seductive, valuable in material and silencing, these beautiful gags confirm women’s exclusion from the linguistic realm, marginalization and ornamentalization within history
(see Monument I, II, III-V for the previous sections of Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough project statement)
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Ornaments IV-VIOrnament IV: Scold’s Bridle in the Form of Hataî. (Süs IV: Hataî Formunda Susturucu Maske) 2018 Bronze 5” x 3.5” x 5” Ornament V: Ball Gag with Penç Motifs (Süs V: Penç Motifli Top Susturucu) 2018 Bronze 2” x 2” x 2” Ornament VI: Bit with Tepelik Motifs on Ends (Süs VI: İki Ucu Tepelik Motifli Gem) 2018 Bronze 1.5” x 5”x 1.5”
-
Ornament IV: Scold’s Bridle in the Form of Hataî. (Süs IV: Hataî Formunda Susturucu Maske) - Detail2018. Bronze. 5” x 3.5” x 5”
-
Ornament VII: Ring Gag with Rumî Motifs (Süs VII: Rumî Motifli Yüzük Susturucu)2018. Bronze, leather. 2” x 21” x 1.5”
-
Ornament III: Tongue Depressor with Stylized Flower Motifs (Süs III: Stilize Çiçek Desenli Dil Bastırıcı)2018. Bronze.5” x 3.5” x 5”
-
Ornament I: Ball Gag with Rumî Motif (Süs I: Rumî Motifli Top Susturucu)2018.Bronze, leather. 2.5” x 21” x 2.5”
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Ornaments I-VII2018. Cast bronze, leather. Sizes variable. Photo Credit: Patrick Harkin, courtesy of the Hamiltonian Gallery
Monument IV, V (Twin Obelisks) - From the Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) Series
The 2018 iterations of Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough), Monument III , IV and V take the form of obelisks comparable to the one of Pharaoh Thutmose III transported to and re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. From the Washington Monument in D.C. to the Trajan's Column in Rome, phallic monuments have been built and displaced throughout history as markers of power/conquest.
(see Monument I & II for the previous sections of Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough project statement)
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) – Monument IV, V (Twin Obelisks)2018. Prints on Concrete, charcoal. 6’x2’x2', 4’x2’x2’. photo credit: Patrick Harkin, courtesy of Hamiltonian Gallery.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) – Monument IV (Twin Obelisks)2018. Prints on Concrete, charcoal. 6’x2’x2'. photo credit: Patrick Harkin, courtesy of Hamiltonian Gallery.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) – Monument IV (Twin Obelisks) - Detail2018. Prints on Concrete, charcoal. 6’x2’x2'. photo credit: Patrick Harkin, courtesy of Hamiltonian Gallery.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) – Monument V (Twin Obelisks)2018. Prints on Concrete, charcoal. 4’x2’x2’ photo credit: Patrick Harkin, courtesy of Hamiltonian Gallery.
Monument III (Obelisk) - From the Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough)
The 2018 iterations of Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough), Monument III , IV and V take the form of obelisks comparable to the one of Pharaoh Thutmose III transported to and re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. From the Washington Monument in D.C. to the Trajan's Column in Rome, phallic monuments have been built and displaced throughout history as markers of power/conquest.
(see Monument I & II for the previous sections of Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough project statement)
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) – Monument III (Obelisk), Ornaments I-VII2018. 15’x10’x10’. Installation with Prints on Concrete, charcoal, cast bronze, archival images, text.
-
Installation Detail Featuring Archival images of the Theodisian obelisk in Istanbul, and Scold’s Bridle from the Welcome Collection2018. 15’x10’x10’. Installation with Prints on Concrete, charcoal, cast bronze, archival images, text.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Monument III (Obelisk), Ornaments I-VII2018. 15’x10’x10’. Installation with Prints on Concrete, charcoal, cast bronze, archival images, text.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Monument III (Obelisk), Ornaments I-VII2018. 15’x10’x10’. Installation with Prints on Concrete, charcoal, cast bronze, archival images, text. Detail.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Monument III (Obelisk), Ornaments I-VII2018. 15’x10’x10’. Installation with Prints on Concrete, charcoal, cast bronze, archival images, text. Detail.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (: Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Monument III (Obelisk), Ornaments I-VII2018. 15’x10’x10’. Installation with Prints on Concrete, charcoal, cast bronze, archival images, text. Detail.
Monument I (Writing Stones) - From the Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked / Are Not Enough) Series
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) is a research project on representations of women in political speech from Turkey wherein quotes that refer to women are extracted from the public speeches of current Turkish politicians and re-presented in archeological forms that have historically celebrated male glory.
In 2014, the collection of quotes were formed into 10 writing stones, Monument I, visually drawing from Orkhon Inscriptions: bilingually inscribed Turkic artifacts erected to glorify 8th Century Göktürk Princes.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Monument I (Writing Stones)2015. Cement, charcoal, pigment. 74"x168"x74". Installation shot. Barrows Rotunda, Hopkins Center for the Arts. Hanover, NH.
-
Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough) - Monument I (Writing Stones)2015. Prints on Concrete, Charcoal. 74"x168"x74". Installation detail. Barrows Rotunda, Hopkins Center for the Arts. Hanover, NH.
Concrete Landscapes
-
Concrete Landscape I (Mountains)2017. Wood, concrete. 18” x 18” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape II2017. Wood, concrete. 5” x 6” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape III (Seascape)2017. Wood, concrete. 28” x 26” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape IV (Water Lilies)2017. Wood, concrete. 26” x 24” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape V (Sunset)2017. Wood, concrete. 8” x 5” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape VII (Wave)2018. Wood, concrete. 9.5” x 17.5"x 1.5"
-
Concrete Landscape VIII (Farm by the Hill)2018. Wood, concrete. 12.5" x 5.5” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape IX (Spring)2018. Wood, concrete. 8" x 5.5” x 1.5”
-
Concrete Landscape X (Wave 2)2018. Wood, concrete.5.5” x 8" x 1.5”
Grandmother Series (: Anneanne Serisi)
My family, and the practices of women in my family, are things that I hold very dear to my heart; these small bits of ephemeral information are building blocks of larger, enduring concepts that give way to monumental work.
Grandmother Series (Anneanne Serisi) is an intimate body of work that records my Grandmother, Neriman Aydin’s stories, dreams, obsessions, loves and traumas in objects.
Grandmother Series is comprised of small scale, simple and domestic materials and working methods, as well as found or acquired objects and non-objects (practices, Oral histories, prayers.) I sculpt these physical and abstract artifacts into my work as research “data”, the meaning of which I have expanded to include objects that have gained specific significance through experience. When worn to a funeral, a piece of black cloth is elevated to a signifier of time; stones and fruit pits my grandmother brings back from a pilgrimage to Mecca into that of faith; pricked into drywall, sewing needles become documentations of waiting. I build these objects into the series to widen in space and solidify in time the active states of such object’s fleeting stories.
-
Dates from Mecca (: Mekke’den Hurma)2017. Lost-wax cast bronze. 25” x .25 x 1” "Okumak-Üflemek" is a Turkish cultural practice wherein a person says a protective prayer and transfers it, through breath, onto an edible object. Prayer is dormant until consumption. My grandmother brought dates back from her pilgrimage to Mecca. They were blessed by a very important Imam there. I was to consume the dates and keep the pits for protection. Instead of consuming them with my mouth, I used fire.
-
Prayer (:Dua)2017. Wood, cooking twine, candies prayed on by my Grandmother. 12” x 7” x 1.5”. These mint candies are my grandmother's choice of object to pray on. She distributes them to her grandchildren for protection. She used to pray on them one by one. Eventually she started blessing them by the pack. The last batch she sent me was a 7 lb eco-pack all blessed in one go.
-
Prayer II (Neriman’s Blanket) (: Dua II (Neriman’ın Yorganı))Wood, cooking twine, cement, candies prayed on by my Grandmother. 78” x 26” x 3”.
-
Prayer III (Chandelier) (: Dua III (Avize) )2017.Wood, cooking twine, candies prayed on by my Grandmother. 6’ x 2’ x 2’.
-
Prayer III (Chandelier) (: Dua III (Avize) )2017. Wood, cooking twine, candies prayed on by my Grandmother. 6’ x 2’ x 2’. Detail.
-
Proposal for a Monument for Neriman (Penelope)2017. Sewing Needles, thread. 2” x .25 x 1.5”. My grandfather was in the Turkish Navy. Military missions took him to the United States many times. He returned from his odysseys with excitement, stories of patriotism and adventure. It is rumored in the family that he took an American lover. My grandmother never made it to the U.S. She was a house-wife. She stayed in Golcuk, a small town in North-West Turkey and took care of the house and her three daughters. She made all of their clothes by hand.
-
Board Game (: Çocuk Oyunu)2017. Concrete, interactive. Variable ( 4”x1.5”x1.5” blocks)
-
Laying Stones2017. Wood, found cloth, pebbles, thread. 11" x 19" x 1.5"