Imprisoned

In the Concealment Series Bilge explores underlying reality from a range of different perspectives. He employs the sgraffito technique to peel away layers of materiality to reveal emotional and psychological aspects of human experience. Each work has a crisp underpainting to represent the physical world: this is overpainted and then layers are scraped away to create a visual dissonance that provides a glimpse of materiality overlaid with inner experiences.

This work is Bilge’s commentary on concealment of personal pain. The underpainting is a portrait of a seemingly modern woman with vivid colours around her, signifying a bright life. Yet she looks out through prison bars, her true nature hidden behind designer sunglasses. Bilge overpaints with a dark blue-purple to depict an inner pain that comes from an inability to express her true inner nature due to societal pressures to maintain appearances and conform to expectations. He paints golden bars on her cage to indicate this woman is imprisoned by her affluent lifestyle and defined by her assigned societal role and relationships.