Skateboards, Moomins, And More Creatures. Aritst Pinar Birim

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by Sophie She

Skateboards, Moomins, And Other Creatures. Interview With Aritst Pinar Birim

14 Oct 2024

Located in the heart of Dubai Design District, Sevil Dolmacı Gallery has just opened its doors to a collective exhibition spotlighting a collection of established and emerging international talents. And we had a chance to speak with the most rebellious one — Pinar Birim.

Renowned for her lively compositions that merge abstract shapes with a sense of childlike imagination and motifs, Pinar crafts a world that feels untamed and chaotic yet carries a unique sense of youthful playfulness.

Born in Istanbul, Pinar draws inspiration from her upbringing immersed in street and skateboard culture. She’s a snowboard medalist, by the way, so this is not a joke.

While, after sports career, her artistic journey began at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where she explored screen printing and design. After furthering her studies in Interactive Digital Media in London, she returned to Istanbul, collaborating with various artists and receiving the Young Artist of the Year Award from the Graphic Designers Professional Association at age 29.

Her work embodies a vibrant contrast to traditional design styles, reflecting the chaos and beauty of Istanbul, where she sees art as a more profound form of expression than text.

After falling in love with such a light but complex nature of her arts, we couldn’t resist, but to ask her some questions, so we could all get to know her better.

— Your journey started with punk rock, skateboarding, and Istanbul’s street culture. Do you still draw inspiration from there?

— Yeah, definitely. It never ends. It actually started around my teenage years. I was designing our band's posters, stickers, and visuals. I was always into sports; then, I got into skateboarding and professional snowboarding. I was competing as a part of the Quicksilver team. I was sponsored, and actually, I was the only girl on the team. I was the first female snow- and skateboarder from Turkey.

— Oh wow! And then, how did you come to the artistic career?

— In Turkey, there's a system where, in order to go to university, you have to take a really hard exam. You have to study maths, science, and all the other subjects. My parents wanted me to take the test after I finished high school, but I didn’t want to. I went to the fine arts university, Mimar Sinan, instead. They didn’t think I would get in, but I applied to all the fine arts universities in Istanbul and got into every one of them. I decided to study graphic design in Mimar Sinan, which was more acceptable for my family.

And then in school, I was doing screen prints and various projects, but life led me to commercial work and art direction for companies. After I had kids and during the pandemic, I was always drawing. I have thousands of sketchbooks, and my whole home is like my playground. But I decided, okay, that’s what I want to do. And one day I turned off my computer, turning off my other life that I didn’t belong to, and got into just painting.

— That sounds very brave.

— Yeah, but then you never know. Painting is a form of expression at the moment, and it may change. I don’t know what I will do; I may just become a farmer in the end. And I’d be happy with that, too.

Instagram: @pinarbirim

— Why not? Life is all about transformation.

— Absolutely! I feel like I belong to my unknown path. I like the unpredictable. Being an artist is totally unknown. I never knew those paintings would be here if you asked me two months ago. I would not have imagined working with galleries.

— I know you had your own punk rock band, right?

— Headache, yes! We got the band together again! We had a reunion last week. We’re almost 50 years old, but we still play. That’s my passion.

— As a punk rock lover myself, I must ask, what’s your favourite punk rock band?

— Probably my band [laughs]. I also like the Sex Pistols; they are really funny guys.

— Do you work with canvas now, or do you still do silk printing and everything?

— I do a little bit of everything. I work with clay and three-dimensional works, but I haven’t exhibited all of them. I love paper. I feel so free on paper. But I like different materials.

In fact, my first exhibition was at a tiny bar owned by my friend. I was thinking for weeks about what to exhibit and found big pieces of floor tiles on the street and decided to use them as my medium.

— I love the idea!

— Yeah, it was a fun process. I can’t limit myself to just canvas or anything specific. It could be iron, steel, or woodwork in the future. There is no future, but I like not knowing.

Instagram: @pinarbirim

— What would be three of your favourite artists?

— Marcel Duchamp, the rebel of all rebels. I like him not just for his artwork but because of his mind. Philip Guston, I love his work and mindset. He once said, “Everyone has the potential to change” — and I love that. Another favourite is Frederik Næblerød, the Danish artist whose name I can’t pronounce, but I love the freedom of Northern European artists. They live systematically, but their expressions are so free. And from Turkish artists, my favourite is Osman Hamdi from the Ottoman era.

— Can you tell me about the inspirations behind the works you're exhibiting today?

— It's about transformation. I faced a fatal illness where I was either going to live or not. I realised eternity is nothingness — living and not living are the same thing. We are just a form, a vessel. We breathe and have a form, but we are beyond what we look like.

— I’m very sorry, but I’m happy you’re now okay. Thank you for your profound thoughts. Can you tell me more about the pieces you have in the gallery today?

— One is called "Unconditional Love." You could see the tenderness in the colours, I guess. Another piece is "Rewrite Your History,” which took me two years to create. It has three different layers and stories in one. It didn’t have a name before, but once I was done with the last layer - I knew it was about the rebirth. It made itself in a way, and that's why it’s named "Rewrite Your History."

I wasn't expecting it to be this way. I feel that the pieces have spiritual forms, like energies in the air that come to me for healing, but I don’t know who they are.

— It sounds like they have a purpose.

— Yes, they have a message hidden in their names. I don’t have any special coding here, but their names just come to me themselves.

— What message would you want a person to take away from looking at your art?

— I would say everyone has the potential to become a better version of themselves. We should connect with our souls, and when we listen to that deep voice within us, we will know our life's aim — not just the meaning, but the aim.

by Sophie She

Skateboards, Moomins, And Other Creatures. Interview With Aritst Pinar Birim

14 Oct 2024

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