Bahrain has long been home to inspiring artists from all walks of life. This Month, Edwin D’Souza met with Turkish artist Ça?la Akp?nar on the sidelines of her solo exhibition. She animates her journey as an artist.
Ça?la Akp?nar, who was born and raised in the Turkish capital Ankara, first moved to the sunny shores of Bahrain in 2019. The artist popularly known as ‘Wicked Rose’ first developed an inclination towards art when she was just two-years-old – a talent that was then fostered by her mother. “She saw me doodling with crayons on the wall and instead of getting frustrated she let me do everything that I wanted,” she says.
Since her love for art persisted, her mother enrolled her in art courses. “Ultimately, I believed that art is my life and wanted to decided to pursue it professionally by studying fine arts, and got accepted by one of the top-ranked universities in Ankara with a full scholarship in. Today I am the artist that my mother expected me to be,” she says.
Ça?la’s is largely inspired by her personal life, and reflects her experiences through multi-medium art. Acrylic paint, charcoal, colour pencils, water colour, ink and markers come together to create her vibrant artwork. “My work is semi-surrealistic and semi-realistic. I like that illustrative feeling,” she says.
She explains that her move to Bahrain has been transformative and given her the opportunity explore different areas as an artist. “Turkey is a very fast-paced country which is where I learnt to be a quick painter, but Bahrain is a more of a relaxed environment where you get to breathe freely and be yourself. It has allowed me to create and engage with people from different cultures as an art instructor,” she elaborates.
Her career recently took an exciting turn with her first solo exhibition, A Glimpse of Wicked Rose’s Art Journey, being the 6th edition of the Downtown Culture Hub held at Downtown Rotana.
The exhibition focuses on her portrait work, with each unique piece sharing the stories she wishes to tell through the usage of colours. “My art journey is completely psychological. I’ve always been influenced by everything that happens around me; it’s an inner journey that I go on starting from my childhood to now. So anytime I draw myself in a controversial way it made me think about who I am, I felt like I’m on a stage acting and I express myself as if I were in a theatrical scene,” she explains.
The individual artworks featured at the exhibition are smaller than what one might expect, which Ça?la explains is intentional. “When you go to an exhibition, perhaps especially in the case of the ones in Bahrain, you always see very big paintings. Through my exhibition, people can see that to create something you don’t have to work on a very big canvas. I think artists should be open to variety,” she explains.
People from all walks of life and countries across the world including France, USA, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, India and Pakistan have now visited the exhibition. “The Culture Hub has really brought people together to support the art community,” she states.
“You can be an amazing artist but it’s not about who you are and what you’re doing, it’s about keeping a good relationship with people around you as one way or another you’re influencing people, so you need to care of those around you,” she concludes.
