Invited to work in Turkey, Alix Marie engages with the iconography of Anatolian Kilims, where motifs passed down through generations—primarily among women—encode themes of fertility, fecundity, and protection which she chose as the overarching subjects of the two solo shows ANA and ADA.
With ANA, Alix Marie explores the symbolic and protective properties of salt and clay. Across cultures and throughout history, salt has played a crucial role in religious rituals, binding agreements, and protective charms. Its universal presence in these practices suggests a deep-seated human instinct. Positioned on top of the salt blocks shaped in reference to the “koçboynuzu” (ram’s horn) motif —a symbol of strength and fertility are ceramic pieces, each an imprint of body parts, arranged in mirrored pairs to reinforce the exhibition’s recurrent use of doubling.
Throughout ANA, Alix Marie’s ceramic works recall ex-votos—objects historically offered as tokens of protection or devotion—imbuing the space with a sense of ritual and sacred significance.
ANA & ADA were commissioned in 2025 and shown across two venues; ANA at Ka, Ankara and ADA Çatı, Izmir in collaboration with Ka and supported by Institut Français de Turquie.
