Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç - Turkish Painting Association

Who was Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç (1931-August 26, 2021-Istanbul)?

A Ceramic Language Extending from Nature to the Cosmos

Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç is one of the most original figures of modern Turkish ceramic art, recognized on an international scale. Kurtiç, who based her artistic practice not only on technical mastery but also on nature, the micro-universe, repetition, rhythm, and the idea of existence, has earned a privileged place in contemporary art history with her unique plastic language, particularly developed using sea urchin forms.

Melike Abasıyanık Kurtiç graduated from the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts (Mimar Sinan), Department of Decorative Arts in 1955.

Between 1960 and 1962, she worked on ceramic decoration and free form at the Eczacıbaşı Ceramic Factories – Mumhane Workshop. In 1963, she conducted clay research at the Herman Kâler Ceramic Workshop in Naestved, Denmark. Between 1963 and 1966, she was accepted to the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory in Copenhagen.

For four years, she worked in the “Steinzeug-Gre” section of the factory, researching forms for production and working on one-piece ceramic forms. From 1967 to 1968, he worked as a guest artist in the Ceramics Department of the Copenhagen Academy of Fine Arts, focusing on glaze studies.

From 1968 to 1972, she worked with clay at the Ankara Mineral Research and Exploration Institute and on drawing at the Natural History Museum. From 1971 to 1975, she worked at the Heinz-Theo Dietz Ceramics Workshop in Bonn-Bad-Godesberg, West Germany.

In 1973, she was accepted as a member of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Chamber of Applied Arts by jury decision. In 1973, she became a member of the GEDOK Association, headquartered in Hamburg and affiliated with the "Federation International des Associations Culturelles Feminies" in Paris. She returned to Ankara in 1975 and continued her ceramic work in Ankara and Adapazarı until 1977. During those years, she was influenced by the sea urchins she saw on the beaches of Çeşme and began her first drawings. Between 1977 and 1979, while in Athens due to her husband's assignment, she created photographic canvas prints of her "Sea Urchin" drawings and produced 8mm film works (on the subject of sea urchins).

Between 1979 and 1981, she continued his ceramic studies in Copenhagen. That same year, a ceramic sculpture (for the city of Grenada, Denmark) was acquired for the government building, and he applied the city's traditional emblem to the ceramic for the same building. Between 1981 and 1983, she created "Two-Dimensional" rice paper color studies in Budapest and held an exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery.

Between 1989 and 1993, she conducted tidal photography studies on the ocean coast of Portugal (Alto-Da-Barra). In 2013, he exhibited printmaking works at IMOGA. He passed away in Istanbul on August 26, 2021.

International Exhibitions and His Place in the Art World;

Kurtiç's works have been exhibited in many countries outside of Turkey, primarily in the USA. His works have entered museum collections and are considered among the important examples of contemporary ceramic art.

The artist's international visibility has played a significant role in representing Turkish ceramic art on the global stage.

Contribution to Turkish Ceramic Art;

Kurtiç's contributions can be summarized under three headings: