Yasam Sasmazer was born in Istanbul in 1980.

She received her BA & MA in Sculpture from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul. 

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In her early work Yasam Sasmazer focused on the dichotomies intrinsic to human nature and her artistic practice has mainly been concerned with the subconscious; fears, shadows and the conflict between “I” and “the other.”

Her recent works continue to explore these polarities in the light of the reciprocal relationships that are shaped between human beings, non-human entities and nature. The artist’s works comprise sculptures and installations that are predominantly produced with natural materials such as wood, clay, paper and papier-mâché, including also organic and found materials as mushrooms, mosses, lichens, earth, rocks, tree branches and roots.

 

Şaşmazer’s figurative sculptures focus on the human body. While some of them feature recognizable faces and bodily forms, others depict anonymous, amorphous and at times amputated human bodies or body parts. These body parts which undertake both human and non-human characteristics underscore the ambiguity and permeability of boundaries through the use of organic materials.

 

Şaşmazer’s works are fueled with ephemeral processes that are subjected to time. Through bodies that enmesh and transform, the artist incorporates elemental dualities (human/non-human, animate/inanimate, organic/inorganic) in her work all the while reflecting on notions such as existence/absence and vitality/mortality through spiritual and physical transformations, creating narratives that renegotiate the central position humans cast themselves in.  

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