Beliz Iristay
[Image description: A closeup of Beliz, who has brown hair, white skin, and a subtle smile on her face. She wears a peach-colored turtleneck. Behind her, light streams in through a window on the left and a patterned textile hangs on the wall on the right.]
Beliz Iristay is a Turkish-American mixed-media artist, born in Izmir, Turkey and living in Ensenada, Mexico. She studied Traditional Turkish Ceramics at Izmir Dokuz Eylul University, where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts. After she finished her thesis, she worked at the International Glass Furnace School in Istanbul as a teaching assistant and glass production mold maker. She moved to the United States in 2005 and built her ceramic studio in Guadalupe Valley, Ensenada, Mexico. In her work, Beliz often uses the venerable traditions of her home country(s) and combines them with contemporary techniques. She collects the subject material for her work from the traditions and politics of the countries she is living in.
She has had solo exhibitions at venues such as Front Gallery in San Diego; Bread & Salt Gallery in San Diego; and the El Paso Museum of Art in Texas, among others. Her work has been included in group exhibition and won prizes at the Biennial De Estantardes in Mexico; the El Paso Museum of Art Border Biennial in Texas; the National Ceramic Biennial of Mexico; the National Ceramic Biennial of California in Brea; the Ljubliana International Ceramic Biennial in Slovenia; and the Balboa Park Centennial at the San Diego Art Institute, as well as art fairs such as SOFA Chicago; Miami Red Dot Art Fair Miami; and the Los Angeles Art Fair. She was nominated for the San Diego Art Prize in 2015.
Beliz now passes on her ceramic knowledge by teaching ceramics in her studio, TURKMEX, in Ensenada. She lives as a “border artist” between Baja California, Mexico and San Diego, California with her family.
Read about her work on HereIn: