Sera Boeno

Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Artist statement

My praxis is research based and influenced by the sociopolitics of my motherland, which I extrapolate to my current setting. Narratives of and around SWANA women in historically silenced topics –politics, sex, religion, trauma– are central to my work; I explore these topics via para-fiction, “mockuments”, “faux-rcehology,” archival and museological language. Currently I am working on Kelimeler Kıyafetsiz (:Words Naked/Are Not Enough): an ongoing project on representations of women in Turkish media wherein I extract quotes that refer to women re-present these in archeological forms that have historically celebrated male glory. Antithetical to the ancient and archaeological visual language employed in these works, the methodology, the typography and the materials all relate to modern processes such as gentrification and mass printing. This visual oxymoron yields contemporary historical objects, paralleling the antiquated conceptualizations of womanhood in modern day patriarchies. The quotes read on these Monuments posit Turkish Women as “the ornament of her house” and a “complementary” to men. And so, in 2018 the body of work has bifurcated to house a non-equal but complementary counterpart to the Monuments: a set of golden mouth Ornaments that cage the lips of its wearer in motifs from tezhip - an Ottoman manuscript Illumination style. A parallel is drawn between the relationship of tezhip and text, and that of “Woman” and “Man” for as Turkish Woman ornaments the house of...

Artwork

• Monument VI (Altar) , 2019. Prints on Concrete, charcoal
• Monument VI (Altar) - Detail, 2019. Prints on Concrete, charcoal
• Ornament XI: Scold’s Bridle with Hataîs, Tulips and Wild Flower Motifs, 2019. Bronze
• Ornament XIII: Heretic’s Fork with Rumî Motifs, 2019. Bronze
• Ornament VIII: Ring Gag with Rumî Motifs, 2019. bronze
• Ornament IX: Ring Gag with Tulip Motif, 2019. Bronze
• Ornament XII: Scold’s Bridle with Palm Crown, 2019. bronze
• Ornament X: Manual Breast Pumps with Rumî Motifs , 2019. Bronze
• Untitled (Caryatid Performance), 2019. Performance with objects.
• Untitled (Caryatid Performance), 2019. Performance with objects
• Untitled (Caryatid Performance), 2019. Performance with objects
• Untitled (Caryatid Performance), 2019. Performance with objects
• Untitled (Caryatid Performance), 2019. Performance with objects
• Untitled (Caryatid Performance), 2019. Performance with objects
• Monument IV&V (Twins), 2018. Prints on concrete, charcoal
• Monument IV (Twin) , 2018. Prints on concrete, bronze
• Monument V (Twin), 2018. Prints on concrete, charcoal
• Monument III (Obelisk), 2018. prints on concrete, charcoal, oil, stucco
• Ornament IV: Scold’s Bridle in the Form of Hataî; Ornament V: Ball Gag with Penç Motifs; Ornament VI: Bit with Tepelik Motifs on Ends, 2018. Cast bronze
• Ornament IV: Scold’s Bridle in the Form of Hataî - Detail, 2018. Cast Bronze
• Ornament I: Ball Gag with Rumî Motif, 2018. Cast bronze
• Ornament III: Tongue Depressor with Stylized Flower Motifs, 2018. cast bronze
• Ornament VII: Ring Gag with Rumî Motifs, 2018. cast bronze, leather
• Monument II (Reliefs), 2016. Prints on concrete, charcoal, oil
• Monument II (Reliefs) - Detail, 2016. Prints on concrete, charcoal, oil
• Monument I (Writing Stones), 2014. Prints on concrete, charcoal, oil, steel
• Monument I (Writing Stones) - Detail, 2014. prints on concrete, charcoal, oil, steel