Arch. Major App.

Everyone is on the Same Boat

Gouache and watercolor pencils, September 2018, 14 x 14.5 in

This was a piece I did under the idioms series I worked on when taking AP 2-D Studio Art. The idiom here is "Everyone's on the Same Boat." Instead of depicting the metaphoric meanings, I chose to portray the literal image that comes to mind when the idioms are mentioned. This piece was the first one I made in that class and was also the first time I used gouache. The impressionistic waves and the enlarged octopus arms make this piece less realistic but help to pass the message to the audience better. Here, I wanted to show that, whatever problem comes our way -be it climate change, racism, war, poverty, or oppression- we have to stick together to solve it; at the end of the day, we all live in the same world and those problems will grow to impact us some time in the future. The relevance of this piece can be seen today as every person around the globe struggles through the pandemic.

Turkey in Tears

Acrylic paint and watercolor, March 2020, 11 x 14 in

"Turkey in Tears," is the only reasonable description I can give to the events happening there currently. Not only are people's basic human rights being violated, but newborns, kids, women, old people, and sick ones are being separated from their families and are left to suffer. The news agencies that can expose this to the public are being silenced. The mute and ban symbols represent this. The pencil inside the handcuffs is for the journalists and writers that are sent to prison. Men are separated from their families while women raise their children alone (sometimes in jail) and struggle to earn enough to upkeep their household. The top left corner of the page is dedicated to the people who could not make it out alive from prison. The condition of Turkey can only be represented with tears, and that is why the center of attention is a crying eye with the Turkish flag as the iris.

Sezen Aksu

Acrylic paints, January 2019, 11 x 14 in

In this piece, I was willing to experiment with what I could do on black paper. Using only one color to paint the defining features of a face using my knowledge of shadow and light produced this result. I have always been impacted by the songs of Sezen Aksu (the person depicted in the picture) and wanted to incorporate her into my art as well. The bold expressions and the details in the reference image made it easier to sculpt out the areas that needed to be painted or left blank. When I was finished, I was fascinated by how NOT putting paint on paper could make a painting more complete!

Charcoal Flower

Charcoal sticks and pencils, January 2019, 8 x 11 in

My father has a love for flowers. He even calls his favorite color "dried rose petals." One day, he asked me to make a drawing for him, and knowing his love for plants and nature, I made this piece. It was the first time I used charcoal, and I learned that I could use negative space in order to make the main object of a drawing stand out. Instead of focusing on the flower itself, I colored the background and the surrounding elements.

Elephant in the Room

Acrylic paints, November 2018, 11 x 7.5 in

I had first heard the idiom "elephant in the room" in a Ted Talk and found it very absurd to think about. I imagined a huge elephant in a small room, trying to fit in even though no object could hide it from the rest of the crowd. I had a lot of fun making this piece and chose to use vibrant colors. The idiom itself is very relatable, because I sometimes feel like I am the elephant in the room due to my cultural differences, but then I remember that being an elephant is not a problem, because everyone is an elephant. Every person has different stories, problems, and beliefs, and that is what makes humanity beautiful.

Bananas

Watercolor and Acrylics, April 2019, 8 x 8 in

This is a real-life painting of bananas. I am usually afraid to make real-life drawings with materials other than pencils and graphite. However, I loved using a real, 3D object to experiment with how I could transform it onto a 2D surface.

Piece of Cake

Watercolor and acrylic paints, October 2019, 17 x 14 in

Whenever a teacher says, "Don't worry, the quiz is a piece of cake," I cannot help but wonder how that delicious goodness could be compared to a piece of paper that determines the grade in a student's transcript. The table in this background was very exciting to paint. I was surprised that I could achieve the wood effect I wanted using watercolor pencils. However, while making this piece, I learned that I had to practice drawing 3D objects so that I could depict them without relying on a photo reference. I also learned that accurately emphasizing lighting and shadows in a colored piece is harder than a black and white one.

Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?

Watercolor and Gouache, March 2019, 14 x 17 in

My teacher asked, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I had always heard this question in interviews and would not be sure how to respond. I looked at the question from an artistic point of view and answered it with colors instead of words. In 5 years, I wanted to become an architect, but I was not sure how to illustrate it. Would architects use paper nowadays? Would they work in construction sites or offices? Would they keep their calculators and colored pencils by their side? Then, I remembered that this was the good thing about art: the artist decides how he/she wants to pour their imagination onto paper. This piece shows what I think an architect's desk looks like.