Tell us about your story and artistic background
For those who don’t know about me, I am a designer who makes video and collage works in pop art style in digital media. If I need to briefly talk about myself; i have been in the advertising industry since 1994. As a matter of my profession, I have been involved in graphics and design for many years. During this period, I worked as a graphic designer, copywriter, art director and fashion photographer.
Later, I passed on to the movie and TV industry and worked as a creative director. During the 6 years I spent in this sector, I gained many experiences first in cinema and then in life. Then I started my own agency and continued on my way.
My first step into the art journey started with a book that my father gave me as a gift in the late 80’s and that made me get familiar with collage for the first time. In this book, which belongs to the famous cartoonist of Turkey, Öznur Kalender, has many great and fun collages created by using world famous persons and different objects and these drawings gave me a brand new vision, yet I was only 10 years old. In fact, I made my career choice back then, and I was going to do something about visual arts in the future.
How did you decide to become an artist?
As I said, it all started with my interest in visual arts at an early age. At first I started painting. Later, in my middle school years, I won an inter-school painting competition. Then I started making pixel drawings using Commodore 64. When I was in high school, I came accross Macintosh LC II and Photoshop 2.5. The period after that developed very rapidly as a career.
Was there an event or specific job/work that made your career turn around?
In 2016, a different period started in my life. I was 36 years old and until then i let myself go with the flow of life without realizing it. I stopped there for a while and realized that it was time to do something for myself. I can say that 2016-2017 was a period when i made many important decisions about myself and my life. And again in 2017, i started publishing my first works on the Instagram account with an exceptional name like “FailunFailunMefailun”. This account became a great motivation and the design process turned into a meditation for me.
Who was your mentor? If there ever was one?
Actually, there are many different names that I cherish. But my uncle, who brought me into the advertising/design industry and introduced me to the macintosh computer (called just “Apple” nowadays), has a special place in my career.
What are your main artistic and creative inspirations?
I am happy as I create. For this reason, I can call Failun a meditation field for me. For inspiration, sometimes a movie I watch or a melody I hear, or sometimes an event that happens at that moment, can initiate the design process.
After all, the most important instruments of my works are films, music and paintings.
The priority in my works has always been idea-oriented. A good idea is always more catchy than a good image. While doing my work, I use humorous language based on this logic. I can say that “every design that attracts attention at first glance and makes you want to look for a second time is special”.
Top 3 photographers you would love to collaborate with
As Failun; Annie Leibovitz, Steve McCurry, and fashion photographer Mert Alaş.
What inspires your work? Is there a message behind your creations?
In fact, every mood brings different designs. Relationships with people, what happens in the world or in the country you live in often affect me like everyone else. Different emotional states such as anger, joy, love and sadness makes people feel very different things. In these cases, it sometimes reflects on my work with sadness and sometimes in a fun way.
In my work, I generally try to give people positive and effective messages. I like to give subtle messages that will put a smile on their face or make them think.
What would you change in the fashion/artistic scene today?
As humans, we consume everything very quickly. Especially with the introduction of technology into our lives, our slogan has become “Live fast, consume fast”. Nothing can stay on the agenda as much as before. Fashion and artistic trends are also changing very rapidly. And this rapid cycle unfortunately often destroys an incipient formation process in it’s development phase, just like plucking an underripe fruit from the tree.
If Van Gogh or Leonardo da Vinci lived in this period, I cannot stop wondering if they would have reached that spiritual and artistic maturity that would produce the same paintings.
I would like to support projects that will provide artists with more time and opportunities for their arts to grow mature.
What is the piece of work you’re the most proud of?
I can say the works in “Timeless Famous Paintings & Iconic Photo Collages” series that I am most proud of on Failun.
What’s the future looking like for you?
Personally, I will continue my way, my artistic pursuit and self-improvement. After the pandemic, I think we all will get out of the comfort areas that we have created and maybe re-discover ourselves. We will take new steps without fear of trying new things and making mistakes. We may not always get the reward of our efforts in the way we want. But as long as we struggle, success is always waiting for us one step beyond.
