Betil Dagdelen

born 1978, Turkish

Turkish artist Betil Dagdelen grew up in a culture steeped in fabric arts, in a family of avid textile collectors. Dagdelen studied political science and international relations at Koc University in Istanbul, graduating with a Bachelors degree in 2000. Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York City, where she begun working as a production and set designer in the fields of fashion, film, art, and design. She also attended classes on architecture and interior design at Parsons the New School for Design. In 2009, in addition to her production and set design work, she began designing and weaving furniture in a quest to study and understand patterns.

Dagdelen works with both mid-century iron rod and custom-made chair and bench frames, into which she weaves yarn seats, backs and armrests, using the furnitures frame as the loom. Her expert woven patterns are inspired by her life experiences. Although Dagdelen is primarily self taught, she further developed her unique approach to weaving by apprenticing with indigenous weavers in New Mexico, Peru, and Turkey.

Dagdelen’s work mixes traditional weaving technologies with an improvisational approach to patterning. She boldly steps away from the loom in preference to weaving into and around sculpted forms. Dagdelen prefers to work with existing materials that have a story to them, and therefore uses yarn created traditionally by both Turkish and Navajo makers. She lives and works in Abiquiu, New Mexico

Exhibitions