Codex – ASLI ÇAVUŞOĞLU

In Codex, Çavuşoğlu worked with the bark of the Bursera fagaroides, a tree with a shrinking habitat (owing to climate change) that is native to the Sonoran Desert, extending across parts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. In response to the discovery of a reliable source of moisture, the tree sheds its bark in order to grow larger. Pieces of bark, like peeling skin, appear suspended on its surface and eventually fall off. Çavuşoğlu traveled across the desert landscape in Mexico, collecting these fragile fragments, and worked closely with a paper restorer to produce from them a stable surface for mark-making.

*Excerpt from the press release by Rattanamol Singh Johal

Codex, 2022. Cholla cactus, bursera fagaroides, drawings on leather.
left: 34×195 cm; right: 34×186 cm