For the exhibition Humid Blue, Defne Cemal works in series, slowly building up paintings through semi-transparent layers of blues, browns and whites. Each work begins with a wash or a basic structure, such as a curve or a division, and gradually evolves through an improvised conversation between the artist’s hand and the nature of canvas and paint. She often hones in on a single hue, enhancing the surface vibration, under which continuous movement is always occuring. Oftentimes, reflections and shadows from objects or figures outside the artist’s studio window seep in and out of the paintings. 

Alongside the canvases are folds, where a thin, creased aluminum panel gives the painting surface a subtle sculptural dimension, thereby interacting with light in a more literal way. While the paintings on canvas seem to create their own internal light through layers of paint, the inherent structure of the folds divides light, reflecting and dispersing it with more immediate brushstrokes, providing deeper insight into Defne’s hand.

As the eye adjusts to the illusion of painting and the material nature of pigment, the images may shift under varying conditions, both emotionally and spatially. While the temperature of color is influenced by physical factors, color intensity varies by interpretation, and the interplay of these states creates different sensory reactions. As a whole, the works convey a subtle, inherent energy; they explore how the human eye perceives color and the psychic space it can create: a preverbal state of texture and feeling.