Artist Highlight : Alper Özdil
Alper Özdil , Multi-disciplinary Artist, Creator, Musician
A Glimpse into the Artist's World
To capture the essence of each artist's unique journey, we delve deeper into their creative process and invite them to share their insights. Through a thoughtfully crafted questionnaire, we unravel the mysteries behind their artistic brilliance.
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Please tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm a 41-year-old innovative and multidisciplinary artist, a professional musician, a former application and game developer, podcaster, with degrees in engineering and philosophy, but I'm entirely self-taught in art, music, and everything I create. Driven by curiosity, learning, and experimentation.I left my 18-year career in international IT management and project management at IBM during the COVID pandemic to become a professional artist. Since making that dramatic decision, I've primarily worked on illustrating children's books and serving as an art director and illustrator for tabletop role-playing games. I am also a Star Seller on Etsy in the Children's Book Illustration category.
Since discovering NFTs, I've been creating innovative digital art pieces and collections that combine various styles and mediums.
What mediums do you use to express yourself?
When it comes to mediums, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I've experimented with nearly every medium in art. This passion dates back to my teenage years. I was the head of the Art Club in my private high school, where our art teacher encouraged me to explore various mediums such as wood, metal, and leather, as well as different drawing tools like oil and watercolors. I even worked with various types of clay for sculpting.Thanks to my boundless curiosity and eagerness to experiment, I dabbled in and studied all these mediums during my childhood. However, when it comes to "expressing myself," if I had to narrow it down, I believe music is the strongest medium. Among all my artistic pursuits, music is the one I'm most connected to and passionate about. When I say music, I mean the sounds. I've been playing synthesizers and piano since I can remember, composing my own original music. I began & left my music education at a very young age and self-taught myself with digital composing with limited resources to express myself.
I've always kept my music instrumental because I enjoy expressing myself without words, solely through sounds – frequencies. I relish molding my ideas and soul into sounds and expressing them purely through audio.
Are you a Solo or Collaborative artist?
In the past, I was primarily a solo artist. However, over the years, I've transformed from an introvert to a fully extroverted person, which has influenced both my lifestyle and my art. Collaboration opens up more possibilities and encourages experimentation, so I'm always open to collaboration in any art form. Having said that I have only one collaboration (yet) in which I made the art, music & animation and my friend did the vocals for musical & animated poetry, The Epic of Alp Er Tunga, it’s minted & listed on foundation marketplace.How do you/your perception of art differ from others?
This question is directly related to individual personality and cognitive functions of my brain, but specifically concerning art...I don't seek beauty, value, or aesthetics in art. What I focus on in art is the creative process and the experimental and intellectual aspects of creation. When I examine artists like Da Vinci, Picasso, or Dali, it's not the art itself that matters to me; it's the intellect behind the art, the uniqueness of the idea, and the implementation process.
The same goes for my own art. I don't pay much attention to details or strive for perfection. I concentrate on the creation phase and enjoy the learning and experimentation during the creative process.
Most of the time, I share my art with the world prematurely and then move on from it quickly. However, over time, I often find new ways to revisit and recreate past art. My aim is to demonstrate to the world that I'm creating something unique and innovative and I'm not afraid of receiving negative feedback or sharing it before it was actually completed.
Is there a favorite artist or an artwork that inspired you/your style?
No, because of the reasons I mentioned in the previous question. Any form of art can inspire me, even a child's drawing. What's important to me is the uniqueness of the idea and the intellectual side of creation and imagination.For the same reason, I don't have a specific style. In fact, I embrace this aspect of my art. When you look at my work, you can't pinpoint it as "Alper's style." I can quickly adapt and adopt different styles. I'm like the Kakashi of artists (from the anime series Naruto), copying styles I was inspired by and learning the technique very quickly.
What was the last Exhibition you visited?
This is something I'm not particularly proud of, but I don't visit exhibitions frequently. The last exhibition I can recall was an art exhibition I visited in Amsterdam about ten years ago. My lack of attendance is likely due to my limited enthusiasm for traveling, but I am aware that this should change. (though my art/NFTS visited many different global & local exhibitions). My daughter (9) is also an NFT artist (@ AryasWorldNFT) and she was selected as one of the NYCNFT2023 Artists and her art visited New York.What does Innovation mean to you?
Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I'm 99.9% innovative. Beyond its definition, for me, innovation is a way of life. It involves creating new ideas, finding creative solutions, and forming something very new from existing concepts. This aligns with certain personality types and cognitive functions of the brain, and I'm fortunate to have a personality type (ENTP) that places a strong emphasis on innovation & creating out-of-box ideas and I implement this function into forms of art (drawing, music, coding for generative art, etc)Some notable examples of innovators include Da Vinci, Socrates, Machiavelli, and even fictional characters like Rick Sanchez, who perfectly represents my crazy innovative, and experimental side. I'm like a combination of Rick Sanchez (before he forgets "LOVE") and Da Vinci, with a loving family. I strongly believe that I will continue to be an innovator until the day I pass away.
Are you familiar with Web3 /NFTs/Crypto?
No!! What is that?Lol, not only me but my nine-year-old daughter is also creating NFTs (she's also an NFTNYC2023 artist as mentioned before)
We are dad & daughter NFT artists. In fact, my plan for this year (2023) was to leave the Children’s Books and Roleplaying Fantasy Book Illustration Project to focus more on NFTs but still could not follow this goal 100%.
Is AI your Enemy or Friend?
Anything that aids me in innovation, creativity, problem-solving, and skill development is my friend. AI allows (and will continue to allow) us to create without necessarily possessing specific skills. Some people might harbor negative feelings towards AI because it opens doors for those who couldn't create before AI, but there's no need to fear it.The downside of being able to create more, faster, and without extensive knowledge or skills is the potential for misuse, such as selling mere "prompts" for significant sums of money.
However, this issue is not solely tied to AI; it's a broader concern. Instead of fixating on this negative aspect, we should focus on the incredible speed and potential for innovation that AI brings.
Having said that, I have the most unique, combined, innovative digital art pieces & collections in Web3 space but in the end, one of my most selling NFT collections is actually AI-powered. But examining this collection objectively, what makes it unique is NOT actually only the power of AI or not the good prompts, what makes it special is combining my original idea with the AI. Just to make the creation process FASTER.
Can you tell us about a recent piece of artwork that has particularly interested you?
I take pride in one of my NFT collections. It's not just because it's mine but because I see it as one of the most innovative, skillful, unique, and modern digital art collections of NFT space. I created it back in 2021 when I first ventured into the world of NFTs, and it has visited three ART/NFT biennales/exhibitions already. (NO SELL YET)
This collection is called "FRACTANUANCE," and what makes it special to me is that it encompasses all the skills I possess, combining them harmoniously:
4K Hand-drawn Abstract/Fractal Illustration
Original Music Compositions (for each piece)
Coding and Engineering to transform 2D art into 3D objects (Generative Part)
3D modeling and Animation (synchronized with music)
It offers both a musical and visual experience, making it a truly multidimensional art collection. (You can find more information about it at alperozdil.com/fractanuance)
[*FRACTANUANCE was presented in Kuwait's first IRL NFT Exhibition #WAGMI & later in Paris NABU lines IRL NFT Gallery]Any other ongoing projects?
Absolutely. I often jokingly say, "When I'm not creating, it's because I'm creating." This is very true for me as I have numerous ongoing and sometimes abandoned art, music, podcast, and coding projects happening every day.
Currently, I have five different NFT collections in various styles waiting to be released, and I'm still working on more before launching them. Sometimes, a new idea pops into my mind, and I pause all other projects to focus on this fresh concept.
Any final words, comments, or suggestions for young artists?
A piece of advice for young artists:
No single skill or talent can guarantee your success (a term I dislike because it's all subjective and goal-oriented). To stand strong in the long term, you should continually learn and expand your set of skills.
Why? Because
You have time.
You have time.
You have time.
You might come across artists who make millions, but if they keep doing the same thing, they'll eventually fade away. You must be adaptable and open to change, especially if you're an artist in the Web3 space and planning to be here in the long term.
Don't pay too much attention to specific recipes for success that others offer. Success is highly subjective, and anything is possible in this world. Work smart and keep learning.
I spent 18 years in a large business with a successful career having numerous skills and certificates, yet I don't preach about "how to be successful" or "how to do this and that." I still continue to learn by observing and connecting with others.
” You must be adaptable and open to change, especially if you're an artist in the Web3 space and planning to be here in the long term. Success is highly subjective, and anything is possible in this world. Work smart and keep learning.”
Alper Özdil is a true creative dynamo, defining himself as an innovation machine in forms of; art, music, tech & science. He's a pioneer in the world of Web3 technology. He pushes the boundaries of traditional art forms, embracing new mediums and technologies to express his artistic vision. His work breaks the mold in art, music, and technology, showing his versatility. What makes Alper stand out is his quirky and unconventional approach. He's truly a modern-day Renaissance thinker, pushing the boundaries of creativity across various fields.
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