Sand In A Whirlwind, 2015 Archival Pigment Print, 130 x 180 cm The sudden and extreme enrichment that came with the dam at the side of Urfa, the changes that are characterized as economic development are transforming the overirrigated and overcultivated plains with sandstorms that now and then comes from the desertified regions of the Middle East that are condemned to drought, and remind us that nature is a whole without borders.
Sinem Dişli was born in 1982 in Urfa, Turkey. She earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in sculpture at the Dokuz Eylul University and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography at the Marmara University with the dissertation thesis titled: “The Use of Photography in the Art Movements of the 20th Century and Photography’s Relationship with the Concept of Avant-Garde”. Between 2005 and 2008, she worked for photography department at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, and she co-curated exhibitions, such as Magnum Photographers, André Kertész, Lars Tunbjörk, and Othmar Pferschy. In 2008, she was awarded a scholarship to attend the School of Visual Arts in New York with her project “Resistance” which combines photography and visual arts elements. She also participated in the fine art education programs at the International Center of Photography, and Cooper Union. In addition to four solo exhibitions titled İntiba, Sürgün, Cereyan and Rutubet, she has also participated in numerous group exhibitions throughout Europe and the US. Dişli joined the Cosmos section of the 2016 and 2017 Arles Photography Festival with her books Intiba and Rutubet. Dişli was awarded by the Triangle Arts Residency program and ISCP for 2015. Since 2008, she splits her time between Istanbul and New York, and she is a co-founder of the independent artist-run space Ayzart in New York, TOZ Artist-Run Space and HER HÂL Kolektif in Istanbul.
Limestone Quarries, 2019 Archival Pigment Print, 57 x 88 cm Tracing these substances that constitute the natural and cultural landscape of Urfa, I ended up in quarries. In utilizing these materials, one had to go underground. The earth was unearthed and the mountains were punctured. Mounds became hollows and hollows in turn created mounds.