Chimera
April 25 - May 13, 2023
Reception: Friday, April 28, 5-7pm (Artist talk @ 6 pm)

Strata Gallery presents Chimera; the work of Established Member, Turkish-born American artist Tulu Bayar. The exhibition opens April 25, with a special reception on April 28th from 5-7pm.

Bayar’s work encompasses various techniques and mediums including photography, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, installation and video. Being a recent immigrant, her world exists between her native and adopted homes, a reality shared by many who leave one country to settle in another. In her work, the physical characteristics of subjects are often masked or hidden, ornate with depicted patterns, resulting in an open-ended narrative. She uses historical and contemporary imagery and stories culled from references that include manuscripts, magazines, artifacts, motifs and symbols found in both her old and the new worlds.

Tulu Bayar stated, “It’s great to be involved with Strata Gallery and the Santa Fe Community. Chimera both celebrates and subverts my inherited identity. The work embraces playfulness while positioning fluidity and rootedness as complementary rather than opposing forces in the building of selfhood and culture.”

Bayar’s artwork has been shown in curated solo and group exhibitions across the United States, Turkey, Germany, UK, Denmark, France, China and Colombia. A Fulbright Scholar, she has also received funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Ténot Foundation, artist-in residency grants from Camac Centre d'Art in France and the Center for Photography at Woodstock funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation as well as William Sackett Fellowship through Virginia Center for Creative Arts.

Tulu Bayar, Trapped, Mixed Media (Silver Print, 35 mm film, water soluble resin, paint) 9” diameter with 0.75 depth, 2023

Tulu Bayar, Chimera Performance Act #1, Archival Pigment Print, 22” x 29”, 2023
(Edition 1 of 5)

Tulu Bayar, Chimera Performance Act #3, Archival Pigment Print, 22” x 29”, 2023
(Edition 1 of 5)