An Interview With Emel Ozkul
Art for Emel Ozkul is not just about using vibrant and vivid colors, but also about connecting with her inner child. In Emel’s works, she prefers to portray the purity and excitement of life. Ozkul’s process involves collaborating with the child within, stepping into her dream world of imagination, and transforming ordinary moments into enchanting experiences. Painting becomes a profound meditation for her, engaging with her inner child on a deep level.
Can you tell us a little bit about you?
I was born in 1989 in Istanbul, Turkiye to a disciplined architect father and a nurturing teacher mother. From an early age, I found solace in observing my surroundings and embracing solitude. This need for solitude deepened while practicing law to fulfill my father's ideals, revealing that my true passion lay in art. After practicing law for a few years, I decided to pursue my own ideal of artistic dreams and moved to New York to obtain a master’s degree in art. In New York, I continued my art education. Now, I live and work in my home studio in Brooklyn.
How has your artistic practice changed over time?
I have always had a deep interest in scientific theories. I think this interest was a major factor in my graduating with an honours degree from law school. When I was studying at art school, the subject that fascinated me the most was color theory. After I moved to New York - about five years ago - I realized that I was working with more vibrant colors and highly controlled lines. Immersing myself in the dynamic energy and vibrant atmosphere of New York, where individualism thrives, has profoundly influenced my work. Respecting and channeling this energy, for the last three years, I have been working on a large-scale series in which I prefer to use oil paint as it comes out of the tube, without mixing the colors together. I see this as an expression of my respect for the nature of the pigment and I plan the symbiotic relationship between the colors I will use to create my compositions. This attitude towards pigments also helps me to develop my unique layering technique, which I have been practicing for six years by working on different surfaces with oil pastel.
Much of your work is about connecting with your inner child but how do you hope to achieve this and what's the importance of self reflection?
I believe that the clearest, purest and most organic state of being human is our childhood. In order to make sense of existence, I try to establish communication between the child in me and the adult me. For this reason, I seek the answers to all my questions with the guidance of the child in me. I shape my approach to life with this collaboration. This mutual support offers me a free space by expanding my limits of tolerance towards life. I observe the reflections of this collaboration through my paintings and sculptures. Sometimes I tear up a work I like and start again to test the trust of this relationship. You can think of it as a personal reflection.
Is there specific goal you are hoping to achieve with your art?
The language of art is cryptic by itself, it is a visual metaphor. The goal I set for myself with my art is to reach the highest potential of my existence by deciphering my own codes.
What is the importance of color in you work?
The vibrant colors have an emotional significance that gives me courage without hesitation.
Why do you love creating?
Making art is my deepest and most powerful means of communication with my inner child. The effect of this communication, like a drug, encourages me to constantly create. I cannot find the pleasure of this creation process in any other experience. Art is an addiction that connects me to life, where I speak with the purest form of my soul.
When did you first know that you wanted to become an artist?
When I was about 5 years old, my parents went on vacation and left me with my grandparents, who were famous furniture designers at the time, and they said they would pick me up in the evening. I remember waiting for my parents until morning, believing that I would return to my own home and toys. I remember being very angry with my parents for lying to me. From that day on I never played with any of the toys they bought me and I always made my own toys to avoid the same disappointment. I tasted the taste of formative creative experience at that age. However, because I was raised in a patriarchal society, I started my career as a lawyer in my later years in line with my family's preferences. When I gained enough financial independence, I left my career as a lawyer and went to art school to reinvent myself. It is that unseen five year old child that I still keep alive inside of me who makes my art and who is an artist.
Who or what is your biggest artistic inspiration?
I am inspired by anything that interests me and gives me the space to observe it in a natural way. It can be the tip of a flower, an architectural design, a book, a work of art, a human being, even the eye of a frog. But I can say that I have a keen interest in flowers and mechanical systems.
Are there any particular artists that you are currently enjoying?
There are many artists from different disciplines that I admire and am inspired by, and this is not limited to the visual arts.
What is your favourite book or film and why?
It is difficult to me to answer this question because what I call my favorite today may not be my favorite tomorrow. However, I can refer to a book Free the Mind from All Conditioning by Krishna Murti to explain this more deeply.
Are you working on any projects you are particularly excited about?
A gallery representation based in Madrid will be exhibiting a couple of my works at art fairs in Paris, Madrid and Miami in May 2025. I am very excited to exhibit my works in a gallery representation at international art fairs.