This article was automatically translated from the original Turkish version.
The perception of art and aesthetics begins with exposure to aesthetic stimuli at an early age. Art sustains its continuity through the traditions that nourish it, but it gains its vitality by identifying with the spirit of its time.
Although the Anatolian region has historically hosted layered conceptions of civilization, it has entered a phase of stagnation in terms of artistic and intellectual production over the past century. At this point, my post-Far East living experience led to an awareness centered in Istanbul, revealing how my encounter with the city’s mysterious past has contributed to my artistic output. Istanbul is a unique city whose majestic architectural continuity and urban fabric, which can be described as “supernatural,” provoke creative processes. Istanbul, with its eternal historical depth and its oscillation between modernity, has become an endless source of inspiration for me.
The provocative aesthetic terrain offered by Istanbul can be interpreted through the following historical and cultural parameters: the legends of Hagia Sophia and the Byzantine imperial aristocracy’s purple silk textiles adorned with gold embroidery. The cultural transformation initiated by Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s conquest of Istanbul, made tangible by the first Friday prayer held in Hagia Sophia and the spiritual dimension of the conquest, alongside early signs of modernity evident in Fatih’s portrait commissioned from Bellini. Mihrimah Sultan, the beautiful daughter of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, or Hürrem, immortalized through her poetry. The structural genius of Mimar Sinan and the musical depth of III. Selim that shaped court culture.
Everything was provocative. I sought to translate plurality and complexity, beauty and ugliness, sacredness and the mundane into visual form, movement, and performance. My aim was to construct an artistic discipline grounded in the effort to understand and interpret Istanbul’s historical and cultural layers.