Ayse Balkose is a Turkish/British visual and performance artist, however, since 2020 pandemic, she has expanded her practice to include spoken word, lyric and play writing/performing. Her work is focused on themes of displacement, “un-belonging” and expectations of being a woman with an emphasis on the individual within a socio-political context. Drawing from personal experience as a daughter of a widow mother living through economic hardships and lager on as an immigrant learning a new language and culture whilst living in the UK,  she is interested in investigating the relationship between unresolved emotions and self-isolation while attempting to pinpoint the causes of mental confusion or insecurities.

Ayse studied chemical engineering at the university of Ankara and MBA, her masters in business administration in Yildiz Technical University in Turkey. While working in Istanbul at a textile factory, she began to explore her career as an artist. For over ten years She’s been active as a painter / photographer and live performer in installations and various durational performances. In recent years, she took on the role of Cultural Commentator for the Middle East and Africa,  gave talks on Anatomy of UnBelonging and actively performing her play Canine Teeth which investigates the expectations of being a woman in Turkey. Her commissioned performance work “A Journey of UnBelonging “, aimed at changing the public perception about what it means to be seeking sanctuary and feelings of alienation. In 2019 I expanded on these themes with a short film, “Voice”. As an audio/visual installation it explored the struggle of migrant artists to find authentic ways of expressing themselves.

While working as a photographer,  she expanded her photography and painting portfolio which eventually led her  to exhibit work at the Moscow modern art gallery, the Royal Arts Prize –London and the DOK- Edinburgh and many more.This book is part of the project the Canine Teeth which was funded by the Arts Council England National Lottery Funding, written and performed by Ayse.