Symbiosis

Artists featured in Cicek Gallery’s exhibition find a common linguistic ground across mediums.

At 6 pm, the room quiets, and the dance begins. Deliah Seefluth’s movements synchronize with the fluent forms of artist Frankie Boyle’s central light installation, a branching, sculptural composition holding a presence over the entire room. Andy Apl’s musical composition vibrates throughout the exhibition space, imbuing the room and artworks with a perceivable energy, and situating the audience within a unique, shared, contained experience. Both dance performers, Seefluth and Sarah Hirsch, cradle more of Boyle’s artworks: two glowing displays of pure orange light, a hue echoed in the subdued natural light illuminating the room. At times mirroring, and at other times contradicting each other’s movements, their performance inhabits a shared space with the other artworks and the viewing audience, bringing the complete exhibition into one conversation. This intimate performance foregrounds a selection of Gavin Johnson’s paintings, a scene which is visually amplified by the mirrors lining the walls and ceiling of the exhibition space: extending, elongating, echoing the performers’ movements, and almost mimicking the flowing light of Frankie’s central installation on display nearby.

This specific experience of artworks in dialogue is the embodied idea behind Cicek Gallery’s latest exhibition - Symbiosis. The exhibition featured artworks in a wide variety of mediums, including experiential lighting installations by Frankie Boyle, music by Andy Apel, paintings by Gavin Johnson, and choreography by Deliah Seefluth, performed by Seefluth & Sarah Hirsch. Each artist featured in the exhibition developed their own individual lexicon of forms, which somehow found a common - linguistic - ground between one another. The swirling, spiral forms in Johnson’s paintings are echoed in the organic, branching movements of Frankie’s light compositions, as Apel’s music activates Seefluth’s choreography within the space. 

After the first performance of the evening, I had a conversation with Berfin, founder of Cicek Gallery and an artist herself, on how the idea for a cross-disciplinary exhibition emerged and the direction of the gallery’s future exhibitions.

Through Symbiosis, described by Cicek as “creation’s dance”, the gallery proposes a type of exhibition which requires a more complete sensory involvement.

Whereas in traditional exhibition spaces, there is a usually unspoken, invisible, yet clear boundary between artwork and audience, the gallery seeks to overrule, realign, and reset it.

When I asked her about what kinds of narratives she is drawn to, Berfin said she is “usually drawn to stories that amplify diverse voices, challenge dominant narratives, and explore themes of identity, social justice, and resilience. These stories usually delve into personal and collective experiences of marginalization, but also celebrate the richness and depth of cultures, perspectives, and histories that are often overlooked or sidelined.

By curating such stories I feel like I am able to create a space where artists engage with their personal journeys and contribute to broader conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion in the art world and society.”

In Berfin’s words, the overarching narrative for Symbiosis centers around “the heartfelt interconnectedness of life, where creation is depicted as a dance between two forces—one that transcends the boundaries between giver and receiver, dissolving them into harmonious unity. At its core, ‘Symbiosis’ explores the fluid, cyclical exchange between individuals and the world around them, using visual art, light, dance, and music to bring this concept to life. The immersive experience invites audiences to journey inward, guiding them from personal chaos toward a sense of balance, mutual growth, and love, highlighting the beauty of finding harmony within oneself and with others. Through this fusion of artistic mediums, ‘Symbiosis’ becomes a powerful meditation on togetherness, transformation, and the shared rhythms that bind us all.”

Cicek Gallery’s Symbiosis was held in a temporary venue in Camden from Oct. 5 to Oct. 13,  and was co-curated by founder, gallery director, and artist Berfin Cicek, together with art advisor and co-curator Alinda Kring. To be in the know for Cicek Gallery’s future events, you can follow their page here.

By Andrea Dávila

Photographer: Can Mehmethanoğlu

Author Bio: Andrea Dávila is a researcher, writer, and museum professional interested in the cultural and disciplinary intersections within art history, focusing on the visual dialogues and continuities within contemporary Latin American art. She graduated from Barnard College, and has held curatorial internships at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at The Courtauld Institute of Art.