UNGUARDED

March 12 - April 25

 

​

ZAROLAT is pleased to present UNGUARDED — a solo exhibition presenting the works of Asya Cetin. As the artist’s first solo show and the gallery’s first photography exhibition, the curation showcases 19 works spanning across the last decade, tracing quiet transformations of identity, belonging, and intimacy across continents.
 

Moving between İstanbul, New York, and Paris, Cetin’s practice is shaped by transition and an ongoing search for self — one that is formed through each interaction. For her, moving in between cities forms the foundation of her visual identity, while the consistency of creating becomes a safe space offering comfort, amid the constant displacement. Carrying deep personal emotions, each frame is a reflection of connection that emerges between the artist and the subject, through reciprocal trust, vulnerability and transparency.  The intimacy of her work comes from being present — from the unguarded communication shared within the same space.
 

As an image-maker, Cetin is fascinated by the act of collaboration and the unknown that unravels during the process of working with others. She feeds off of this exchange of sharing. Letting go of control and the desire to construct polished or idealized representations, she is drawn to raw surfaces — skin, fabric, light — and to bodies as they are: vulnerable, present, and unguarded.
 

This body of work reflects not only her personal journey, but also a deeply layered experience of belonging between places and the connections formed along the way. Within it also lies Cetin’s anger toward issues surrounding her, existing in quiet tension with the calmness and sense of escape which she seeks through her image-making.
 

UNGUARDED is not simply an exhibition of photographs, but a mediation on what unfolds in between them. It is within these intervals where one can find themselves through the silences, the pauses and subtle shifts from one image to the next. The show invites viewers into a vulnerable yet powerful space — one defined by connection: between people, places, and images — reflecting the tension, softness, and rhythm that connect them.

​

Photography by Jack deMarzo.

​

PRESS RELEASE​​

​

Please email gallery@zarolat.com for all inquiries and to request a priced catalogue.

​

​