İnci Eviner

In the autumn of 2024 an enigmatic installation FIG.1 stood in London’s Regent’s Park. Resembling a small, tiered stage, the work appeared at once out of place and unexpectedly at home in the natural environment. Atop the structure was a collection of fragmented ceramic sculptures. These objects – comprising human and non-human body parts, such as torsos, tails and heads with pointed, bat-like ears – appeared ready for activation, as though caught on the verge of movement. Although individually fragile, collectively they conveyed a sense of latent power. Titled Materials of Mind Theatre, this installation was created by the Turkish artist İnci Eviner (b.1956) for Frieze Sculpture 2024. Working with ceramics students from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Eviner produced twenty-five stoneware clay sculptures, conceiving each as a costume that embodies a particular persona, thought or emotion. Arranged on the stage, they coalesce into an exploration of bodies, identities and collective memory, while expanding the performative and narrative possibilities of sculpture ...