BIOGRAPHY

The main theme of my works is identity and belonging. Identity is defined as “the sum of characteristics, qualities, and features unique to a human being as a social entity, and the conditions that enable someone to be a specific person.” Belonging, on the other hand, is the emotional bond an individual forms with anything. This bond is defined as the strong sense of connection an individual feels towards a geographical place, a nation, a religion or language, a state, a community, a profession or job, a group, an ideological idea, a sports team, an institution or organization, a person, or even an object.

Identity and belonging, which define an individual's existence in society, are among the most important factors in shaping the history of individuals and society and transmitting their culture from one generation to the next. For this reason, throughout the continuous histories of civilizations, many sanctions have been imposed on culture, identity, and belonging depending on prevailing policies. Foremost among these are the coercive sanctions on identities that determine ethnic origins. These sanctions, which can also be considered a form of assimilation, appear as the oppression of the weak by the strong.

The policy initiated in Bulgaria 42 years ago, which attempted to assimilate Muslim and Turkish peoples by forcibly changing their names, is one of the most dramatic examples that can be given on this subject in recent history. Although I did not directly witness this process, which my family also experienced, it has taken root in my memory through the transmission of traumatic memories and my observations during my travels, playing a significant role in the formation of my identity.

My works created within the scope of this project symbolize the experiences based on my family's narratives. The remnants of memories left behind by migration are made visible sometimes in drawing, sometimes in painting, and sometimes in installations, representing space and time. These works, which are merely individual images on their own, complete a narrative as a whole and, by connecting with each other like projections of memory, serve as a record to be passed down through history.

My works produced within the scope of this project were created using different techniques. In addition to works on two-dimensional surfaces such as paper and canvas, the formal commonality of my project works, which consist of three-dimensional pieces using various materials and videos, is a sense of spatial emptiness.

The minimal size of the images within the composition in space reinforces this feeling of emptiness. The monochromatic values in the use of color also contain references to the traces of a past destined to be forgotten. The dominance of white mediates in making the misty yet sorrowful memories of the past visible.

Similar approaches prevail in works using ready-made objects such as letters and official documents. The swallow figure created with the origami technique is included in my works as collage and installation. These swallows, representing migration, are intended to provide a dynamic effect to my works.