In this episode of Eylul Aşkın İle, hosted by Eylul Aşkın and filmed at the Bohem Apartment located on Lüleci Hendek Street, the guest was painter, art director, and set and costume designer Emre Öztürk.

Emre Öztürk, who is gearing up for his third solo exhibition planned to connect with art lovers in November, will also feature one of his works in a show opening at Art Nova on October 16 as part of the Ankara Art Fair.

“I was asking my mother for watercolors when I was just two years old.”

Emre Öztürk shared that his earliest childhood memories date back to when he was around two years old, painting in the middle of the living room. He added, “During those same years, I created my first digital paintings using character fonts on a Commodore 64 computer.”

“I worked outside and saved money.”

The artist, a graduate of the Painting Department at Anadolu University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, shared how he ventured into the workforce during his student years, saved money, attended courses with his savings, and prepared for the fine arts faculty entrance exams through his own efforts.

“I stepped outside the mindset that ‘a painting student only paints.’”

Emre Öztürk, a versatile designer who supports the film industry and performing arts with costume and set design alongside his painting work, emphasized that he was quite active during his school years. He described his curiosity and versatility: “I attended classes from other departments. We had a preparatory year, and the program was five years long. During the preparatory period, I began going to an advertising agency after school. There, I learned graphic design. After transitioning to my major, I started doing freelance work outside and teaching Photoshop to graphic design students. As I began to develop an interest in conceptual art and performance art, I started exploring every department available at the faculty.”

“The artist is a multifaceted person.”

Emre Öztürk criticized the recent trend of using the term “artist” to describe everyone, stating, “An artist is a multifaceted person. An artist shoots videos, takes photographs, paints a stone, and tells a story with materials. An artist is not just someone who paints on a canvas.” He also addressed the audience’s approach to art, saying, “We see that there is considerable interest in the exhibitions that are opening, but showing interest is one thing; understanding and perceiving what you see, and grasping the message being conveyed is another. For society to understand this, it needs to read. What looks beautiful to the eye might be conveying a pain that the artist is trying to express. Being able to see that is important.”