Dagmar Goegduen. TURKEY

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The best way to describe me is that I am an "environmental fighter" and that I feel deeply sorry for each plant or animal disappearing from our planet.  Turkey, where I am living for more than 40 years, possesses one of the richest flora in Europe; but unfortunately due to lack of interest, wrong building policy, etc, rare flowers are exterminated day by day. This fact has influence on my art; in each of my exhibitions I try to emphasize this problem.
One of my exhibitions "Endangered Beauty" was on endemic flowers in Turkey. One on wild orchids, because Turkey possesses most of wild orchids in Europe; another exhibition was on tulips - the first tulip bulb was taken from Turkey to Europe; another exhibition was on cactuses which I saw during my stay in the deserts of Mexico. I try to paint these small creatures with all their details like filaments, wrinkles, color shades, etc in large dimensions in order to show their real beauty; for me each flower is an unique example of harmony in shape and color... My friends often ask me why I don’t stop painting flowers.

Well, this has several reasons: Due to the profession of my father, we stayed several years in Monclova/Mexico, at that time a small village surrounded by deserts. In the year of 1954 we had of course no air condition, and since the existing heat did not even cool down in the evening, my father often drove us to the near by desert in order to get some relief. There were of course many cactuses, and since they open their blooms at night, I was already as a child fascinated by their colors, shapes and fragrance. Another reason is my acquaintance with Fatih Orbay, one of the most famous photographer and producer of documentary films in Turkey. From him I learned that Turkey possesses one of the richest flora and most endemic flowers in Europe. His unique photos always give me as great stimulation for my flower paintings.

The Universal Esthetic Adventure of the Endemic Flowers
The artist Dagmar Göğdün enforcing the limits of a visual realism, being defined as photo-realism creates a pure flower esthetic. At the same time she enters into an ecologic and personal esthetic adventure. Day by day, endemic flowers are disappearing from our earth surface; these beautiful creatures, representing an own characteristic nature fact for Turkey, and unfortunately standing on the threshold of extinction, are being taken with universal enthusiasm and by the magic dexterity of an artist's fingers into the dimensions of an ecologic continuance. The artist Dagmar Göğdün has brought together in her own esthetic and in a lively way her ecologic responsibility and her passion for flowers. By applying especially the method of photo-realism, she expresses concretely her responsibility and the deepness of her affection. All other things are left to people's point of view being sensitive towards nature and esthetic. Will we really close our eyes in front of the fact that we see these beauties less and less in our surroundings or will we finally do something in this field? This is, to a certain degree, the life-responsibility of people on our earth. Gradually, this becomes an obligation which must be perceived not only locally but everywhere on this world; a human and esthetic ideal.

"The artist looks at this subject - wherein Turkey possesses her own esthetic of nature beauty - within a double range of responsibility. And in one aspect, the responsibility and the clarity of The position which contemporary esthetic must take, are explained by themselves. The artist must not produce now an individual and closed art. Art is carrying here a responsibility which comprehends nature, the individium, society, and the whole world, which perceives love and life, which, however, must continue its way without making compromises towards esthetic and individuality. Perhaps here lies the special dimension which must be considered with contemporary art. If its possibilities can be used and creative results produced, then a fresh wind for new useful ways and models is blowing.

The artist Dagmar Göldün has dedicated herself to those flowers which spread on various places, especially, however, on steep mountain slopes and rocks difficult to be reached; they are of wild esthetic and untouchable beauty. Dagmar Göldün has placed these beauties into the focus of an imaginary magnifying glass, regarding them integratedly. In this way she let herself on one hand in for a surprising esthetic adventure and on the other hand she took the chance to take an ecologic standpoint, because these flowers are threatened by extinction, due to lack of care, disinterest and daily destruction of our surroundings.

How can these problems be solved now? The artist does not want to visualize pure beauty; if this where so, she would not carry ecologic responsibility. In turn, she shows a serious ecologic awareness and invites all responsible persons to be aware of this beauty. She tells us - and the flowers are only one example: Let us protect all beautiful and precious things being threatened by extinction! These flowers, which only grow with difficulties under hard nature conditions, mostly carry a wild beauty and a shudder-causing attractivity. The artist has been able to present with success the characteristics of these flowers and their wild charme by means of a realistic way of painting. With surprising success and empathy she has faced the problems of environment and created beauty and esthetic. She has placed the flowers in the esthetic of a close-up photo, which forces realism. In her paintings, she has maintained and further developed her special style, a minimal approach on black underground. The result is visual esthetic catching the charme of each flower in the tradition of minimalism. In this sense, Dagmar Göğdün occupies a place in contemporary art due to her own esthetic definition which has been further developed and applied by her. She brings her individual and social responsibility together with her esthetic awareness and opens a new perspective of modern esthetic. The flowers the artist occupies herself with, carry interesting individual characteristics; however, all resemble surprisingly different objects and creatures: The Bug Orchid (Ophrys speculum) for example looks like a living creature; it produces a slightly fear-arising but fascinating colour and shape dialect. The Root's Cap (Digitalis lamarckii Ivan) with its unique and amazing shape, gives us a sense of respect due to its form and colour. The White Bell (campanula betulifolia) puts its very own sign. The Reversed Tulip (Fritillaria acmopetala) widens our imagination of a tulip and has a fixed place in the artist's photo realistic world.

Dagmar Göldün gives us the pleasure of an esthetic adventure filled with many messages. Each of these pictures, which in their heart pay respect to nature is an original esthetic work and takes its place within a double-layer esthetic concept. We have to congratulate the artist especially on taking this double meaning into consideration and presenting it in an original esthetic.

Ümit GEZGİN
Art Critic