Gallery Marquess presents Confluence, an exhibition by artist Asya Alpay, bringing together two bodies of work, Asymmetric & Geometric and Ebruli. Curated by İlayda Uzunarslan, the exhibition explores fluidity, spontaneity and the emergence of beauty beyond the pursuit of perfection. Taking its title from the meeting of distinct currents, Confluence considers how contrasting forms, colours and materials interact to produce unexpected aesthetic possibilities. Through the relationship between structure and movement, intention and chance, the exhibition examines beauty as an evolving process rather than a predetermined ideal.
In Asymmetric & Geometric, geometric structures encounter asymmetrical arrangements, creating a dialogue between order and irregularity. The works challenge conventional expectations of balance, allowing deviation and tension to become integral to their visual language. In Ebruli, colour and form unfold through a more fluid visual language, where boundaries soften and unexpected configurations emerge. Together, the two series reveal how distinct visual approaches can coexist and transform one another without losing their individual character.
Fluidity in Alpay’s practice extends beyond the visual language of her compositions to the very nature of the materials she employs. Epoxy resin, which begins in a liquid state before curing into a solid surface, embodies a process of transformation in which movement gradually gives way to form. Combined with pigments and layered colours, it creates a space for shifting densities, translucent effects and evolving visual relationships. This transition from liquid to solid resonates with the concept of Confluence: distinct elements meet, interact and take shape through a process that leaves room for unpredictability. The material thus becomes more than a means of production; it becomes an integral part of the exhibition’s exploration of flow, transformation and the emergence of form.
Through Confluence, Alpay brings together two distinct visual approaches to explore how structure and spontaneity can coexist without cancelling one another out. Like separate currents meeting and continuing their journey, the works create a shared visual space in which difference becomes generative. The exhibition ultimately celebrates the beauty of what emerges in the moment: fluid, evolving and open to transformation.
About the Artist
Asya Alpay is a contemporary artist born in Istanbul. A graduate of Boğaziçi University’s Department of Western Languages and Literatures, she has exhibited her work in galleries and at international art fairs across Istanbul, Izmir, Bodrum, London, Toronto, New York, Paris, Barcelona and Madrid. Her exhibition history includes events such as IAAF, ART3F and Affordable Art Fair London, as well as presentations at Saatchi Gallery London and the 25th-anniversary special selection of Affordable Art Fair. In September, Alpay was one of only two artists invited to exhibit at Fashion Crossover London, an event held as part of London Fashion Week. She also returned to Focus Art Fair in October. Her 2025 exhibition programme included Affordable Art Fair Hampstead and a second solo exhibition on Bağdat Avenue in Istanbul, following her first solo exhibition in January.
Alpay creates abstract paintings through an experimental approach that explores the relationships between colour, texture and material rather than relying on traditional drawing techniques. At the centre of her practice is a distinctive method in which she colours transparent epoxy resin with raw pigments, transforming it into a material of her own. She applies this mixture to canvas alongside acrylic paint, building up layers of epoxy in different colours and densities to create depth, luminosity and textural variation. By incorporating additional elements, such as fragments of glass, she further explores the physical and visual possibilities of the painted surface. Her work also features the Cadence Pro Art range, which she favours for its highly pigmented colours, rich texture and extensive palette of vivid, glossy hues.
Alpay relates her artistic practice to personal experience and regards uncertainty as an essential element of the creative process. She has spoken about the relationship between her experience of receiving a bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2016 and her artistic expression. Rather than beginning with predetermined forms, her process allows colour, material and unexpected interactions to shape the development of each work, exploring the relationship between control and chance.
The Aesthetics of Flow, Chance and Becoming
Curatorial Text
Curator: İlayda Uzunarslan
In Asya Alpay’s artistic practice, form emerges through the encounter between intention and unpredictability, structure and fluidity. Bringing together two distinct bodies of work, Asymmetric & Geometric and Ebruli, Confluence explores the moment in which contrasting visual languages meet, interact and give rise to an aesthetic that unfolds on its own terms.
The concept of confluence refers to the meeting of separate currents, where distinct flows converge to create something new. Rather than suggesting a complete fusion or the disappearance of difference, it describes a process of interaction in which each element contributes to an evolving whole. In Alpay’s
work, this encounter becomes visible through the relationship between geometric structures, asymmetrical arrangements, flowing pigments and layered material surfaces.
In Asymmetric & Geometric, the relationship between order and irregularity creates a visual tension that resists the expectation of absolute balance. Geometry offers a point of reference, while asymmetry introduces movement, deviation and openness. The works inhabit the space between the constructed and the unexpected, allowing forms to develop beyond the pursuit of conventional perfection. In Ebruli, this exploration takes on a more fluid character. Colours move into one another, boundaries become less defined, and forms emerge through processes that cannot be entirely predetermined. The resulting compositions evoke the transient nature of a moment: an arrangement that comes into being through a particular set of conditions and cannot be precisely reproduced. Here, beauty is not imposed upon the material through the pursuit of an ideal form. It emerges through the process itself.
Fluidity in Alpay’s practice is not merely a visual quality; it is also embedded in the material processes through which her works take shape. Epoxy resin, initially liquid before curing into a solid surface, embodies a transition from movement to form. Its transformation introduces a temporal dimension to the work, marking a passage in which flowing material becomes a surface that holds the traces of its formation. In combination with pigments and layers of colour, the resin creates possibilities for translucency, depth and shifting visual relationships. The material therefore becomes an active participant in the process of making, connecting the physical transformation of matter to the exhibition’s broader inquiry into change, chance and becoming.
Together, the two series reveal complementary dimensions of Alpay’s approach. Geometry and fluidity, structure and spontaneity, intention and chance are not presented as opposing forces that must be reconciled. Instead, they remain in a state of negotiation, allowing difference to become a generative force. The search for perfection gives way to an appreciation of what develops organically, where irregularities, unexpected transitions and asymmetrical relationships contribute to the character of each composition.
Ultimately, Confluence brings together two different approaches to the formation of visual experience, revealing how order and spontaneity can coexist without cancelling one another out. It invites the viewer to consider beauty as something that need not be perfected or fully controlled, but can emerge through the act of allowing things to happen. Like currents meeting and continuing their journey, the works suggest that new forms of meaning arise not from the elimination of difference, but from the possibilities created when distinct elements come into contact.
