Who are you?
I’m a graphic designer and visual artist from Istanbul, Turkey. I’m married to photographer Lina Irem Arditty (@arditty).
I spent 12 years in graphic design, working on the dark side, mostly in “creative” agencies then I started to work freelance. And finally I’ve been a full-time artist for the past six months.
I’m also father of two dogs and three cats.
When did you start making art?
Both my mother and father were artists, so I was born into the arts anyway. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but I made my first serious painting on a small canvas in my mother’s studio at the age of 6.
What would you call your style?
I’m not sure, but right now I feel like I’m somewhere between abstract art and cartoon.
What drew you to using black and white for your works?
My mother was an abstract painter and her style was very minimal. So I became obsessed with simplifying my style. And after 15 years, I think I’ve finally succeeded. When I started using simpler shapes and simpler lines, I thought why would I need colors and decided to continue with black and white.
What is your creative process like when creating a piece?
Most of my time is spent in passive production, I read a lot, research a lot. And then I get things done as quickly and naively as I can.
What were some of your earliest mints that you are most proud of?
It’s the SOVIET OBJKT. It was the second objkt4objkt event and since there were no bots at that time, we were actually trading our artworks for free. Soviet OBJKT was actually the first attempt of a style I’ve been working on for years, frankly I was afraid to publish it because it was a very “abstract” artwork, but I thought that the artists and collectors of HEN’s early days would accept this style, and they did! If I’m not mistaken, it was 500 editions and they were all collected in a very short time. I found and developed my own style without fear of me from now on.
What is Slothzine? And What have you lived so far about creating the two existing Slothzine editions?
Sloth is a monthly Clean NFT comic zine. Every month we bring together artists from Tezos and give each of them a page to make a comic. It was an interesting process, every artist I wrote accepted to draw without hesitation, I didn’t expect this much! I think the only downside is that we’re a little lazy as artists and pages are usually sent out at the last minute. But that’s the spirit of such comic zines and our name is SLOTH! And It’s definitely the project I’m most proud of so far because I fulfilled my childhood dream.
You’ve also been creating works on 8bidou. Why have you started minting on this platform?
I’ve been making pixel art from my phone on the toilet or on the public transports for years, I didn’t think I would sell them in my entire life. Then 8bidou came up and I started to mint my old pixel artworks there.
What adds value to your art?
I can say that I create only for myself, this is truly my greatest privilege in this world. It offers me a better life, and in the same way I repay this comfort by producing freely.
Are there any pieces of advice that you truly value that you want to share with us?
I usually answer this question as “stay as human as you can”. Because of NFTs, many artists have turned themselves into self-promo bots. Other than that, my advice is to avoid shill posts, get rid of toxic positivity and be a little critical of this world, we must express what you see wrong. It will hurt a little to do this, but it’s crucial for the community and market to thrive.
What are your plans going forward?
I’ve only one goal and that is to not go back to my full-time designer life that I quit. As a freelancer, I can occasionally work with clients I love, but being an independent artist and having your work appreciated by people is the best thing in the world.
Is there anyone you want to shoutout?
My wife @arditty (of course) and all of the @slothzine artists.
Anything else?
Thank you so much, I hope to see you as a member of Tezos publishing in the future. Why shouldn’t this site be a Clean NFT zine too?