Interior Design of Medusa: The Enchanting Journey of Transforming Objects into Lampshades

https://www.youtube.com/embed/L7J3AiLy96M

Handan Hanım: I have always loved old lifestyles. I have a special interest in everything I see, but I started getting into auctions. I started following online auctions during the pandemic and started collecting things from there. I thought, since I already had some things, maybe I could turn them into lamps. For example, I would see a vase or a water pitcher and think about turning them into lighting fixtures. That's how the story began. It started with lighting fixtures. I started working on each one by hand, putting a charm on each one and decorating them with precious stones. Then I wanted to add candles to them. We had these "Murano" bowls in our old houses, which we know from our childhood. I find glass objects or light shows very captivating. You have to see it when the sun hits them. Those lights have always fascinated me. I came up with the idea of making candles out of them. And then, I started doing other things…

01.20 - Nurcan Yalman: Glass is also impressive...

Handan Hanım: Yes, glass is of course... We also changed them one by one. They also have a way of reflecting on the ground, I love it. They have a great effect, like in churches.

01.30 - Nurcan Yalman: I was telling my friends about it, showing them La Sargrada Familia and its...

Handan Hanım: Isn't it incredible? It really is... And then we got into the topic of pillows. Even while making pillows, we turned towards decorating their edges. Now, for example, the idea of making pillows out of scarves came up. I took some things that my mother kept hidden away, like headscarves and other things that people give as gifts, or bring from the village and leave aside. I wanted to make use of them. Then I got into kaftans. How the idea of kaftans came up... Sometimes I don't even understand how it came up.

02.15 - Nurcan Yalman: Are the kaftans original?

Handan Hanım: They're very old. My brother bought it. It's a very old kaftan. I don't really know its story or how old it is exactly. But I do know that it's very old, of course. Since it arrived, I haven't moved it from its place except to clean it. It's been there all along, with its own character.

02.35 - Nurcan Yalman: But it's interesting, isn't it?

Handan Hanım: Maybe we should ask someone who remembers well. There are professionals in this business, actually. What I do is, I buy some fabrics from the covered bazaar and decorate each of them with handmade details. Apart from that, there is also a set of Michelangelo's two-person ceramic dinnerware decorated with scribbles, and so on. It's always like this, and sometimes I surprise myself. There is a constant desire to create and produce.

03.25 - Nurcan Yalman: Because you are changing. As you change, there are other inspirations. And you want to turn them into products.

Handan Hanım: The region feeds this. I mean, it's exactly me, old and new. Now it's an old building, but with a new understanding. By preserving the old while adapting to the new system, it can serve as a service, food, etc. I have this at my home too, always bringing the old and the new together. I really love this. I think it's important to always respect the old. There are truly valuable things there, places where we need to nourish and learn from. But we also need to incorporate the new. We cannot just stick to the old unfortunately.