Formative
Curated by Thom Oosterhof
Hosted by Ruzy Gallery, Istanbul
Ruzy Gallery is pleased to present ‘Formative’, a group exhibition exploring the reciprocal
relationship between artist and artwork, through the mediums of painting, sculpture, and tapestry.
Curated by Thom Oosterhof, the exhibition was inspired by an Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar quote that
states:
“Even humans can sometimes be a reflection of things they don't recognise.”
This quietly powerful line underpins the narrative of ‘Formative’, a reflection on the idea that our
creations are not merely expressions of who we are, but forces that shape us in return.
Each work in the exhibition began as a response to the artists’ personal experience, memory, or
intuition but through the processes of creation, they took on lives of their own. The works resisted,
redirected, and reformed the artist’s original intentions, ultimately becoming collaborators in their
own creation. This subtle shift, from control to conversation, lies at the core of the exhibition.
Painting, sculpture, and tapestry are each material practices that carry their own tempos,
resistances, and textures. Their inclusion is not by chance. In ‘Formative’, they are treated as co-
authors, with the power to influence, interrupt, and even transform the artist. Whether through the
layering of pigment, the shaping of form, or the repetition of thread, each medium oOers a diOerent
kind of feedback loop. One in which the artist is not the sole author, but part of an evolving
dialogue.
Rather than fixed statements, the works in the exhibition are evidence of moments in flux.
Encounters between the self, and the act of making. They ask us to consider: What happens when
the work starts shaping the maker? What if the creative process is not only expressive, but
formative?
- Thom Oosterhof
