mercoledì 23 settembre 2009

Interview with Baysan Yuksel





q)Please introduce yourself.


a)Hi, I’m Baysan Yuksel. I am an artist and illustrator based in İstanbul, Turkey


q)Where do you live and work?


a)I live and work in Turkey (but I travel a lot). And most of the time I live and work at home.


q)How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?


a)I’m not sure but I think I can describe it as drawings about many things in life and those drawings mainly focuses on personal interpretations of this life with some delusions of impossible creatures.


q)How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?


a)I started art at a very young age but it took time to discover the right medium.


q)What are your favorite art materials and why?


a)Many many things I guess. I use everything except oil paints. But mostly I like drawing on papers, I also use painting materials since I do some painting as well. Pens, pencils, ink, crayons, acrylics, tempera, watercolors, glue, junk papers, scissors, spray paints, coffee, tea… I really don’t have any special and favorite material. I use them all. I don’t use oil paints because they don’t dry easily and I usually don’t have the temper to wait.


q)What/who influences you most?


a)Well, other people’s trash mostly influences me. From time to time I go to junk sales and flee markets to find stuffs that were once belong to some other people. Some interesting stuff comes out from those places. I like creating an imaginary life through those belongings of other people and this leads me to create something. And I feed myself with the uncertainties of everyday life. Also children’s drawings influence me the most.


q)Describe a typical day of art making for you.


a)I would woke up, think about my dream lying on the bad for another half an hour, than I really woke up, make myself a cup of coffee, than I would go downstairs to my studio, than I would sit down and start to work, than later I would probably forgot to eat something while working and got out of the studio at a very late hour starving.


q)Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?


a)Similar to most artists wants I guess. And also one other thing: one day I want to have a huge house to live in and to design it as a museum.


q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?


a)I’m mostly interested in contemporary illustration and/or contemporary drawing. Nowadays I find Jockum Nordström’s work very inspiring.


q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?


a)It changes up to 5 minutes to a year. But I try to finish a piece on the same day. When I don’t finish the piece on the same day, it took me to finish it up to one year.


q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?


a)I can’t say I enjoy selling my work, but I do sell. I am emotionally attached to some works which I don’t think I would ever sell.


q)Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?


a)Music is really important to me but for some time something has happened to me that I can’t listen to music. I became sensitive to sound. I can’t listen to music because when I listen to music I became obsessed with a sound from the song, than I can’t concentrate on anything else. So I started to listen to foreign movies (the ones I am not familiar with their language) lately as a background music. When someone else is talking in some other language I can’t understand it relaxes me especially when I’m working. So lately I’ve been listening to Swedish movies.


q)Books?


a)I read books, yes. I read any kind of fiction and some non-fiction about science; I still enjoy reading children’s books, collecting zines and picture books. But my interest is mostly on science fiction and fantasy fiction. Some of my favorite writers are Philip K. Dick, Ursula Leguin, Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl, Michael Ende and so the list goes on. Right now I’m reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.


q)What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?


a)Just create that’s enough when you believe it.


q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?


a)Reading, writing, internet, movies(watching movies, talking about movies, making movies, long discussions about movies or long discussions about making movies), sound editing, coloring coloring books, spending time with children, being a child, talking boringly about as if theories, dreaming, talking about dreams, writing dreams, talking over and over about projects that would take a lot of time to come true, wandering around. Also I like traveling.


q)Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?


a)I put all the news about upcoming shows to my blog here: http://bayananderson.wordpress.com/ And about projects I’ve got hell a lot of them. I’m particularly excited about all of them. But too soon to tell, before I complete any of them.


q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?


a)I don’t follow particularly any contemporary art scene. However sooner or later I come across to this contemporary art scene so I know about it.


q)Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.


a)How old are you and when are you going to make your own money?

I’m 25 and God knows when.


q)Any advice for aspiring artists?


a)Well it may seem like a cliché advice but never give up and work hard. Sorry for that!


q)Where can we see more of your work online?


a) http://www.bayananderson.com/

http://bayananderson.wordpress.com/

http://www.society6.com/baysanyuksel/

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