WSCC Associate Professor Exhibits at Ludington Area Center for the Arts

Eden Ünlüata-Foley’s interactive 3-D artwork “The Tapestry of Days Long Past” will be on display March 5-25, in the Ludington Area Center for the Arts’ performance hall lobby gallery. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ünlüata-Foley is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and designer based in Ludington and Chicago and is an associate professor of art at West Shore Community College. His work focuses on the formation of cultural identity and its relationship to place, the sense of belonging, memory, and personal stories.

Ünlüata-Foley believes every story we tell is woven with the threads of past experiences and future anticipations. “Even if the individual threads are not directly related to the story we are telling, we find ways to weave them together with the intention to tell deeper, more meaningful stories.

Ünlüata-Foley’s tapestry is made of smaller tapestries and braided hangings consisting of various fibers, strings, ropes, wires, cords, sticks and a variety of found objects (household items, toys, tchotchkes, and mementos). Besides viewing the tapestry, audiences are able to scan QR codes using their cellphones and experience additional components of the work, such as interactive poems and videos.

“Each of the fiber elements, found objects, and digital elements in these tapestries weave stories together,” says Ünlüata-Foley.  “Similar to Turkish carpets which are filled with symbols and narratives, these tapestries reference personal and shared stories. Though my personal and cultural experiences, I am part Turkish, are the jumping off point for each one of them, it is left up to the audience to find stories in these tapestries that resonate with them.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Middle East Technical University (Turkey), an MFA degree in graphic design from Bilkent University (Turkey), and an MA degree from the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts at Columbia College, Chicago.

LACA will host an artist reception Friday, March 26, from 5 – 8 p.m. in conjunction with the art center’s other March exhibit “Michigan Landscapes: Shutter, Brush and Mud” by Karen Clark Antrim and Deborah Clark.

Due to distancing requirements, the number of people attending the reception at one time is limited. To attend the reception, an online reservation is required at https://ludingtonartscenter.square.site/…/march…/657….

For more information on Ünlüata-Foley’s work, visit https://www.edenunluata.com/