İLKER ÖZÜM

İlker Özüm is a contemporary artist based in Istanbul. Having painted since childhood, he formed an existential connection with art at an early age, which instilled in him a lasting desire to reconstruct his observations within his inner world, through that process of transformation and to bring forth, through painting, beings that have never before been seen.

Conceptual and philosophical concerns are central to Özüm's practice. He approaches fundamental questions of Existence, Reality, and Consciousness through an abstract visual language, giving form to physical reality and the layers of meaning it carries. Among his artistic influences, pioneering figures such as Paul Klee, Piet Mondrian, Kandinsky, Joan Miró, and Malevich, alongside the Bauhaus movement, hold a significant place. Yet what draws Özüm to this period is not the spiritual dimension of its abstract thought, but rather the rational and structural philosophy underlying its processes of making.

His compositions frequently feature sharp-edged trapezoid forms with oval shapes drifting through them. The spaces between these two structures are filled with repetitive markings produced through spontaneous finger movements. All elements come together in a pursuit of high equilibrium, each carrying its own intensity. Color, free from fixed rules, serves as the direct expression of the emotion present at the moment of creation. Özüm's paintings emerge as autonomous presences, sustained by the tension between what can be known and what remains unknowable.

In the artist's own words, the association between viewer and work exists independently of his intervention. Each painting, therefore, produces its own meaning and effect before the viewer, offering an experience that exceeds the artist's own control.