Interview: Sirma Aksuyek
Luca Curci talks with Sirma Aksuyek during the 7th Edition of ROME INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR, at Medina Art Gallery.

“I was born in 1989, in Istanbul. Received my Bachelor of Art degree from Bilgi University with a focus in Cultural and Art Management. Did my masters in photography in Los Angeles. I had many solo and karma exhibitions around the world. I am feeling very lucky to be able to share my “window”, my point of view through photography with people from different cultures. It always amazes me to see this silent language of vision; strangers become familiar and we share the essence. I love to capture memories and share that world with an audience.”

Luca Curci – How did you get into photography? Do you remember why you took your first professional photo?
Sirma Aksuyek – We record the moments in our memories and they are shaped in time. Sometimes we remember them falsely as they take different forms in our minds. One of the things about photography that fascinates me is that the moment you capture through photography becomes immortalized as if you pull a certain piece from the passing time that we are unable to stop. I used to be fascinated by Nan Goldin. Due to a difficult period, I’d been through before college, I was highly interested in rigid, darksome photographs revolving around weighty matters.

LC – According to you, what makes a good photo? Which details do you focus on?
SA – Light. The feeling that is reflected through shadow is utterly different.

LC – What is the most challenging part about creating your artworks?
SA – Our lives, our emotions and the people around us, everything is personal. The fact that different lives and bodies evoke the same emotion with one pose fascinates me. I challenge myself to create a visual without borders or traditions as if we are all the same although we are completely different.

LC – How is your creative process?
SA – In each of our lives, there are stops that we choose to arrive at. The stops that I choose have always changed in my life. The things that I stop for the sake of my choices, my psychology and my life. It answers the question: “What did Sırma choose to stop for?”

LC – Are your artworks focused on a specific theme?
SA – You have no idea what’s gonna happen the next moment, you feel the uncertainty of that moment. You don’t know how it’s gonna affect you emotionally. I like the aspect of performance art that keeps you alive in that moment. So no, like life I don’t have a specific theme. Me and my photos change around life and time.

LC – In which way the artwork presented in our exhibition is connected with the exhibition’s theme?
SA – Being an islander is always a bit melancholic. The element of water keeps us calm but also distant from our loved ones. While life on an island passes by, you are surrounded by people from different cultures, different religions and traditions. Being part of this entanglement keeps you open-minded and hearted, allowing an acceptance for everyone and a deep respect for diverse ways of living. You become almost as close as a family can get, yet you always search for yourself.

LC – What is your idea about ITSLIQUID GROUP?
SA – I enjoyed being part of ITSLIQUIDGROUP.