Bio
My name is İlke. I was born in 1992 in Istanbul and I currently live and work in South East London. I graduated with an MFA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths University in 2024 and a BA in Interior Architecture from Istanbul Technical University in 2016. In my practice, I work across architecture, sculpture, installation, film, material performances. I look into entities that self-harm or self-destroy and achieve their existence through this. This investigation take shape through material-based research, lyricism, and chemistry that mirror my psychological and dermatological journey. I use materials that inevitably change and transform, creating a shared narrative between myself, the materials, and the environment—each becoming a mutable author in the art-making process.
These entities can be different subjects in each work: skin conditions and itching with their intertwined connections with psychology, wounds and the intricate boundaries between health and disease, the act of rubbing salt into the wound and scratching old scars, or the self-destructive process of calcium chloride that chemically disintegrates into a liquid if not isolated from air.
Alongside my artistic practice, I have worked in afterschool art clubs for a year, and recently I have started working at a primary school as a SEN teaching assistant. Additionally, I have completed the Foundation in Art Therapy training, and I am considering pursuing this field academically in the future.
Education
2022-2024 Goldsmiths University, London Masters in Fine Art, Pass with Distinction
2018-2020 Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir Masters in Art and Design, GPA: 4/4
2010-2016 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul BSc in Interior Architecture, GPA: 3.08/4
Exhibitions
Oct 2024 In Days of Heatwave II: Among the Hydrocommons at Safehouse, London • Curators: Emre Ataman and Oli Mardon
July 2024 Goldsmiths MFA Degree Show, London
May 2023 Entwined Intimacies at Hartslane, London • co-curated with Jiwon Yoo, Nathaniel Trost, and Shira Bar
Feb 2023 Taste the Difference II of Loess Collective at Hypa Studios, London • Curators: Evie Banks, Margherita Ghella, and Susana Lopez
Jan 2023 Taste the Difference I of Loess Collective at Hypa Studios, London • Curators: Evie Banks, Margherita Ghella, and Susana Lopez
Nov 2020 BASE New Artist Platform, Istanbul • Curator: Derya Yücel
April 2018 Mamut Art Project, Istanbul • Jury: Ayşe Erkmen, Ayşe Umur, Evrim Altuğ, Haldun Dostoğlu, Selen Ansen
Awards
2024 The Warden's Prize - winner
ACME Early Career Award - shortlisted
Almacantar Studio Prize - shortlisted
2016 MEKAN National Interior Architecture Students Graduation Project Competition - first prize
2015 Bornova Town Hall Architectural Design Competition - second prize
2014 Amsterdam Light Festival Competition - finalist
Art Programmes and Residencies
2019 Daire Artist Residency, Çanakkale • Selected participant artist at K2 Contemporary Art Association, Tutor: Nezaket Ekici
2018 - 2019 Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme, Istanbul • Researcher artist at Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) Coordinator: Zeyno Pekünlü, Mentor: Deniz Gül
Publications
2020 Article: The Re-definition of Haptic Concept with the Philosophy of Merleau-Ponty • Phainomena Journal of Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind, Issue 3, September-December
2020 MA Thesis: Haptic Art Object in the Context of Phenomenology of Perception • Advisor: Prof. Simber Rana Atay, Dokuz Eylul University, Art and Design