Betil Dagdelen

Betil Dagdelen was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1978. She studied political science and international relations at Koç University in Istanbul, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 2000. She worked as a copywriter for BBDO in Istanbul briefly before moving to New York in 2001, where she began working as a production and set designer in the fields of fashion, film, art, and design. She attended classes on architecture and interior design at Parsons The New School for Design.

In 2009, in addition to her production and set design work, Dagdelen began designing and weaving furniture. She primarily works with midcentury iron rod chair frames, into which she weaves yarn seats, backs, and armrests. Her expert woven patterns are inspired by her life experiences. While she is essentially self-taught, Dagdelen travels frequently for inspiration, even training for a period of time with traditional Navajo weavers in Taos, New Mexico. Dagdelen prefers to work with existing materials that have a story to them, and therefore uses yarns created traditionally by both Turkish and Navajo makers.

She lives and works in New York.