How did your interest in sculpture begin? Can you tell us about your story?
NT: I loved painting from a very young age. By creating objects with various materials at home apart from my existing toys, I would give them meaning and character in my own imagination and I would play with those objects. My family realized this situation and supported me in this regard. During the period when I studied ancient sculptures during my education at Fine Arts High School, I realized that these sculptures have different aesthetic forms in different light angles. This situation excited me more than two-dimensional art branches. Because, apart from the meanings it can express on its own, I thought that three-dimensional forms, which can have other meanings and expressions depending on the time and place it is in, and can also change the meaning of the area and its surroundings, could be a better means of expression. Forms create a different feeling at every point you stop, and this media, which can be intertwined with different disciplines, created a precious space for me. One of the most important points of this field is to work with the material that nature has given you, with forms that can be integrated with nature over time, and maybe close to nature’s own creation.
How is the design process of your works developing, what are the
concepts you are inspired by?
NT: The main starting points of my work are the subject, space, human relations, and the concepts of belonging. Seashells that have their own home but sometimes have to leave in order to move forward and grow are important images for me. The sense of incompleteness created by these displacements and the references that nature presents to us, such as tree roots that are integral to the place they are in, form the basis of my sculptures. Actually, I can say that my sculptures are a combination of my past and the future I dream of.
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How did your relationship with natural stone begin in your artistic life, what is your perspective on this material as a sculptor?
NT: Working with the stone is a very different experience, it offers us a process that is irreversible but also opens up different dimensions if we make a mistake. The most beautiful opportunity offered to me by a three-dimensional art like the sculpture is actually the infinity of possibilities. The shadow of the light created on different surfaces during the day I worked puts me on an endless path. For this reason, I have to be patient and cautious while working. In this process, instead of closing the possibility of the work taking me to different points, I try to use the opportunities offered by the stone during production and preserve the textures and contours that emerge spontaneously, as well as sticking to the small-scale model I designed beforehand. There are times when I examine that area over and over with different lights to see how a surface relates to the feeling I want to express or convey to the other side.
We see that especially the use of marble stands out in your works. What would you say about the character and potential of this material?
NT: The concept that impresses me the most about natural stones is durability, which also supports the concepts that inspired me in my sculptures. A work that you patiently remove from a block of stone formed in nature over millions of years can meet countless viewers for thousands of years. This gives the material we use a timeless quality. As I mentioned before, the possibility that a material formed in nature can return to nature with a different meaning gives the stone a conceptual character besides its physical character.
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What kind of changes does the differentiation of the material cause in the production process?
NT: Since some forms are not suitable for working with stone and do not integrate with the concept you are working with, it is inevitable to turn to different materials. But if we are talking about the stone, we have to design the forms and plans according to the strength and structure of the stone while designing for the stone. In this context, the stone selection is very important. Depending on the area where the work will be located, the brightness and reflectivity of the stone are among the factors that should not be ignored. I think a good sculptor should understand what he can get out of a stone when he looks at it, should be able to see the hidden veins, and understand the same homogeneity in every part of the stone. As the stone hardens, both the dynamism in the details and the inner dynamics of the forms increase, but working with other hard stones takes time and patience because as the stone hardens, it becomes brittle.
What would you say about the current projects that you are currently, working on?
NT: I have recently started to design computer-aided studies, sketches, and models that I have made with traditional techniques for many years by keeping up with the technology. Digital art excites me in terms of its potential to reach large audiences. 3D printers can sometimes act like a natural material also. Yes, the design of the work belongs to you, but the control of the production is not entirely yours, as in the case of stone. A situation caused by the printer or the filaments can push you to different horizons. One of the important factors is that, unlike stone, these materials are much lighter. For this reason, I am in the process of producing the forms I designed based on natural references as a digital series.
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As a sculptor working with natural stone, from which regions of our country do you prefer to work with stones?
NT: Our country is extremely rich in terms of natural stone and marble quarries. If we look at the earliest examples like Göbeklitepe, the historical process shows that these natural stones were used by Anatolian civilizations for thousands of years of Anatolian history. As someone who was born into this wealth, while making my sculptures, I prefer Marmara marble, which is one of the oldest marbles in the world in terms of hardness and structure, Alanya and Balıkesir marbles, which do not lose their form in harsh climatic conditions and are less stretchy, although it varies depending on the nature of the sculpture, the environment and form it will be in.
Did you have any difficulties supplying resources during the production phase? If so, what would you like to say about it?
NT: One of the main challenges of working with a material such as stone is that it is very noisy. Besides, the dust and the wastes that we cannot use in the sculpture in the chipped sections are a separate challenge. In terms of access to stone, I can say that natural stone prices in our country are accessible when compared to other countries. Transportation and rough cutting are one of the most important burdens in terms of cost, but the more important challenge is to provide working space. Considering the noise and dust factors, it is quite challenging to find a workplace, especially in Istanbul. In addition, as the mass you work with grows, you need large-scale construction materials such as cranes and chain hoists. Once you find a beautiful piece of stone, storing it is a different challenge.
