Belkıs Balpınar, 1941

Belkıs Balpınar graduated from the Department of Textiles at the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts in 1963, and went on to work as a carpet pattern designer at Sümerbank. Between 1968 and 1973, Balpınar was a curator at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum’s Department of Carpets and Rugs. From 1973 to 1983, Balpınar worked as the founding director of the Vakıflar Rug and Kilim Museum Istanbul (Vakıflar Halı ve Kilim Müzesi). Living and working in Bodrum since 2006, Balpınar is also a lecturer on the history and the design of carpets and kilims at Marmara University.

Balpınar creates contemporary interpretations of traditional kilims’ patterns and weaving techniques. In her abstract designs that she creates by manipulating the perception of reality, Balpınar makes decisions that push the boundaries of two dimensions to reach out to a third dimension, and in turn employs these as the essence of an ambiguous space.