meltem ışık magnifies anatomies to probe perceptions of the human body

meltem ışık magnifies anatomies to probe perceptions of the human body
all images courtesy of meltem ışık

as an investigation into the ways we recognize and remark upon body image, turkish artist meltem ışık has realized a series of photographic installations that probe our perception of the human form. optical illusions are formed by standing and seated figures that hold large sheets of canvas in front of their nude bodies. printed on the fabric are fleshy, magnified anatomies of various description, size and age — a massive male stomach; a wrinkled arm; a female back. each of these enlarged images are held before a real-scale human model, whose image is rendered as a completely distorted variation of its original self. the collection of compositions titled ‘twice into the stream’ explores how photography is associated with the construction of reality, and investigates our relationship to both ourselves and the people that surround us. 

‘the work started forming around the impossibility of seeing oneself as a complete figure without the help of external devices,’ işik says. ‘what we can see with our bare eyes is a headless body, a restricted view of what is below the neck, with the extended difficulty of seeing our back. observing the bodies of other people, offers me a possibility to reflect on the way I see and relate to my own body, which I can never see as a whole.’