Painting · Botanical · Prints
Ayla Demir
İzmir, Turkey
“A bruised leaf is a record, not a flaw.”
Biography
Ayla Demir's botanical paintings begin with plants found in market bundles, vacant lots, and family gardens. She enlarges their structures until leaves and stems approach abstraction.
Artist statement
Plants carry evidence of where they have grown and how they were handled. I paint that evidence rather than an ideal specimen.
In the studio
Demir layers watercolor, colored pencil, and thin oil on gessoed paper. She works from life until the plant changes, then finishes from accumulated drawings. Her monotypes retain plant traces while allowing water and ink to blur their edges.
