Ayka Go presents her largest painting to date in ‘Play House’

13 Jan 2024

Ayka Go’s solo exhibition Play House is an exploration of memory and artistic evolution where the artist revisits childhood playhouses, and translates paper into intimate scenes that conceal and reveal layers of self-reflection. With a focus on the dollhouse as a metaphor, Go’s meticulous process captures the essence of her creative journey.

The artist’s journey through time leads her back to her artistic roots: inspired by a previous work that involved reading, scanning, and folding diary pages, she incorporates written text onto carefully crafted paper dollhouses and furniture. The exhibition hints at a persistent theme and process of reclaiming a personal past. The inclusion of a table adorned with paper foldings and cutouts reintroduces the audience to the ever-evolving present. Indeed, the immediate world becomes a playhouse, providing adults with an opportunity for reconciliation regarding the roles they still inhabit and how they interact with others whose private spheres intersect with their own.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is ‘Doll House’ – Go’s largest work to date that translates small-scale paper tableaus into an expansive canvas painting. Go’s maturity is revealed in the existential unfolding from paper dollhouses to a palace of memories, inviting viewers to reflect their nostalgic memories and engage in life’s theatre.

Experience Play House at Finale Art File until 12 February 2024.

Images: Installation view of Ayka Go’s ‘Play House’ at Finale Art File, 2024. Courtesy of the artist, Finale Art File and Yavuz Gallery.