Building and Lace Cloud
felt, lace made by Grandma Leyla, digital print, needlework
64 x 75 cm
2023

Beautiful finely crafted lace work made by female hands form the water particles inside the clouds supporting the image of a beautiful man-made now demolished architectural structure.  One packed away in a trunk, the other only existing as a memory and an image both reflect upon the transitory nature of life. 

Grandmother Cloud
felt, lace, digital print, needlework
64 x 76 cm
2023
Memories of people and places follow us like uncatchable clouds that float over us shaping our way of being in and perceptions of the world. 

School City Lace Cloud
lace made by Grandma leyla, gold thread, digital print, needlework
64 x 77 cm
2023

During the summer of 2023 the artist visited the Black Sea coast city of Trabzon where her father-in -law grew up. Not even a trace of the beautiful old city can be found except in a photograph from a family scrapbook. Likewise,  the beautiful Ottoman building where he attended high school in Istanbul has been replaced by a shopping center.  Old lace and family album photographs remind us of the ephemeral nature of life. 

Lace as Plant Cloud
Grandma Leyla’s lace and needlework
65 x 77 cm
2023

These  antique lace pieces are extremely delicate and light, almost otherworldly. At the same time like clouds they can re-group and be seen as geometric shapes or as plants and trees. 

Every cloud has a silver lining or does it? 

This old saying reminds us to keep hope even in the worst of times.  Everything passes just like the clouds float over us.  We need this sliver of hope amidst the turmoil and atrocities being experienced and witnessed in today’s world.  

Another Cloud
Grandma Leyla’s lace, crystals, needlework
65 x 77 cm
2023

Inside clouds many networks, many webs, much information is stored.  Clouds keep our secrets and with a flick of the mouse on  our computer, the invisible becomes visible.

All images on this site and their copyrights owned by Nancy Atakan unless otherwise stated. Images are not to be reprinted or reused without the expressed permission.