Artist Highlight : Mert Kuyumcu

Mert Kuyumcu, Digital Artist

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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1. Please tell us a bit about yourself.
   This is Mert, originally from Istanbul in Turkey. However, I live in a completely historical/small/clean/happy city called Rouen in France since May 2023. I'm 37 with 14 years of marketing, business development, and sales experience in the telecommunication, energy, aviation, and technology industries. My major was not art related at university. I studied IT & Economics so I guess that's the reason why I see myself in blockchain technology in 2017 -even if it is still late to be in. In short, let me state why I am in this NFT matrix. I am an illustrator. I produce works using three different digital tools and mint them all at the Foundation marketplace. Yes, I am quite loyal to Foundation.

2. What mediums do you use to express yourself?
   My interest in drawing started at the age of 15. Those years are the millennium years 2000 when everything was quite nice, everyone friendly and almost every single of us has empathy around us. The only thing was the economic crisis in 2001 which the Y generation and even older faced for the very first time. But it was nothing compared to these crazy years. Of course, I was not using any digital tools back then. Only a pencil and paper. I guess that's a pretty ordinary start for an art life. So my answer is it has been 23 years and now my medium is both 2D and 3D which gives me a nice ability to handle a single static piece of art by Octane Render which Beeple is using and Cinema 4D and Adobe PS for the last touches on 300dpi or 400dpi quality of an artwork.

3. Are you a Solo or Collaborative artist?
   I think I have accomplished greater things on my own. I am very used to working alone and I can see that whenever I try to work with one or two artists, I can easily see that it will fail in the middle of the project. Frankly, this is a situation I have experienced even at the beginning of this year.

   

   

   Recent works by Mert Kuyumcu

4. How do you/your perception of art differ from others?
   I write a story first. If it's a collection, I make a long series of short stories to put all the pieces of the collection in that story. For example, Kai, which I plan to release at the end of this year, will be the best example. Or as in my ICE and SPICE collections. Then I decide which medium the works in this collection will be in. For example, SPICE and ICE are collections prepared with both my 2D and 3D mediums. My early works at Foundation were mostly 2D. Kai will also be 2D. Many times in my art life, I have seen artists who first started with sketches. I'm not like that. I guess at this point I have a slightly different start than my other friends. Since I attach great importance to the story of the work in the beginning, I cannot be very interested in artwork that has no content. I am very passionate about the story.

5. Is there a fav artist or an artwork that inspired you/your style?
   There are many modern digital artists that I admire so much. Of course, these are all illustrators. Such as; Marco Zagara, Ryan Church, Marc Simonetti, Nikolina Petolas, Griff, Calder Moore, Marischa Becker, Ricardo Motta, Tokyo Kurosawa, Eszter Lakatos, Masha Shango, Imad Iwan, Dana Ulama, Kenva, Gordon Zuchold, Rata, Sorriso, Matak, Marcel Deneuve, Orkhan Isayev, Kunrong Yap, Akreon, Dix, Ryden, Wala, and Ian Permana. I must say that I got a lot of inspiration from all of them.

6. What was the last Exhibition you visited?
   I am an old man. Of course, I love visiting digital museums, as I have a gallery called Musée in Oncyber. I exhibit all the works I sell there. But as I said, I'm an old old old man. I care about traditional things. That's why I'm interested in the galleries physically visited. I visited the “Musée Picasso Paris” on April 11, 2023. I am very lucky to see this magnificent museum surrounded by enormous artworks. Last week, I visited the “Bourse du Commerce Pinault Collection” on June 20, 2023. I watched the very impressive modern works of 350 artists, consisting of nearly 10 thousand works.

7. What does Innovation mean to you?
   In my experience working across multiple sectors like telecommunications, energy, aviation, and IT, I've witnessed how innovation plays a vital role in these industries. Whether it's introducing advanced communication technologies, implementing renewable energy solutions, designing more efficient aircraft, or revolutionizing digital experiences, innovation is the driving force behind positive change.

8. Are you familiar with Web3 /NFTs/Crypto?
   I met the cryptocurrency in 2017 by buying BTC and ETH. Toward the end of the year, ADA came into my life. Now I have a total of 33 different coins in my wallet and I keep most of them staked. Besides, I met NFT in 2021 like most of us. Before I bought NFT from anyone, I started this matrix as an artist by drawing the famous Battle of Waterloo in 1815. On August 23, 2021, I minted my first piece in this matrix. So I have no intention of leaving here.

9. Is AI your Enemy or Friend?
   I would like to answer this question in general terms first. This is a very good question that needs to be answered neatly without interfering with art. While some people might fear AI as a potential enemy, I believe that AI is primarily a tool and its impact depends on how we harness its capabilities. Like any technology, it can be used for both positive and negative purposes. The key lies in responsible development and deployment, ensuring that ethical considerations and human values are at the forefront. However, I would like to clarify one thing. I should add the tweet I shared on December 14, 2022: 

   

   I love playing with Adobe PS, Cinema 4D, and Octane Render as much as anyone else, but putting something that was generated using a prompt alongside artwork that took hundreds of hours and years of experience to make is beyond disrespectful. Sorry, not sorry. But this is the truth. 

10. Please tell us a bit about a recent piece of the art world that has particularly interested you.
    I can share something about the work of one of the rockstars I shared above. For example, I like my friend Eszter’s (aka. Es) works, who lives in Budapest. My favorite works are usually the ones from her Foundation account. I can say that “Hades”, “Above the Magic Field”, “Freefalling” and “Escape From Reality” are my favorites. Among them, I can talk a little about "Above the Magic Field". Es is a great talent who can draw the human anatomy very well and I am sure that she can draw the whole design meticulously in a very short time. Here we immediately understand that the main character is in a dream. Everything is intertwined and everything is very beautiful. A++ quality color is used. I love details very much I work very detailed in all of my works. There are some wonderful details here too. Escape From Reality is a work that you cannot get rid of for a long time.

    
    ”Just feel free to wing it. The more success we achieve and the more successful people we've spoken to, there's always an element of the unknown when trying new things. We just have to face the fear and do it anyway. Let's give it a go and see what the future brings.”

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