UNDRGRND ARTIST: UMTKSA
NOVEMBER 11TH, 2023
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Fears and triangles.
From Istanbul, digital artist Umtksa puts our, and his, deepest fears on display for the world to see. Rather than bury them away in an attempt to control and hope that they recede, Umtksa purposefully goes internally to places many avoid. This facing of, and unearthing repressed fears embodies the larger motif behind his work.
“One of the recurring themes in my art is the representation of opposite concepts sharing the same space,” Umtksa says, “This can be seen in my works, where I try to show how seemingly opposite ideas are connected and share common ground.”
A perfect example of this is Umtksa’s work Face to Face, where, “two faces are sharing the square space equally. The triangle numbers of the two faces are also equal, to be precise, they each consist of 206 triangles. This use of symmetry and balance emphasizes the idea that the two faces, despite their apparent differences, are connected and share the same space.”
We can see this balance at play in his works like Muses, depicting his inspirations, fear, and the internal conflict between the stress of creating and the anxiety and self-loathing that comes from not working. Is there no respite from ergophobia?
Our metaphorically richest creations tend to come from the places that we come to fear the most.
“A lot of my work revolves around fears because it is a bottomless pit for me as an anxious person,” says Umtksa, “My work MEdible is a good example of this. I have more fears than I can draw and animate, and depicting them in my art, helps me to see that other people have similar fears. It's like creatively talking to a psychologist. I find that I am better at drawing these fears than talking about them. By depicting them in my art, it helps me to process and understand them better. Using art as a way to express my fears is a powerful tool for me, and allows me to connect with others who may be going through similar struggles. It's also a way for me to create something beautiful and meaningful out of something that is often seen as negative.”
We continue to see this well of creative inspiration play into a motif of balance; contradictory ideas being used to see typically negative aspects of our emotions as positives.
Even his choice in style, using sharp jagged triangles to depict flowing, rounded subjects supports a concept of conflicting ideas working together to create something harmonious.
“It allows me to be more free in terms of ideas. The restriction of using only triangles forces me to think creatively and come up with new ways to use them. It pushes me to explore different perspectives and techniques, resulting in a unique and dynamic style.”
With anxiety comes the scrupulous nature that analyzes the entire creative process ensuring each aspect speaks to the creator’s intent; giving the audience something beautiful from something we often repress.
The beauty comes from the balance.
