“Biraradalıklar / Co-existence” black and white digital scan from analog film printed on paper, 100x180 cm, 8 pieces, Edition 1/1, 2022–ongoing. Lokal 02 Group Exhibition, curated by Melike Bayık. Eldem Art Space, Eskişehir 2025. Photo: Esra Eldem
Co-existence documents moments of alignment between the human body and the natural world. Spanning from the rocky terrains of Geyikbayırı, Turkey, to the forests of Nuuksio National Park, Finland, the series explores how boundaries between the animate and inanimate blur. Here, skin and stone merge into a single entity.
There is a distinct surrender in how these bodies inhabit the landscape, yet it is marked by a quiet unrest. While the yearning for belonging is palpable, the images whisper of its unattainability. This tension transforms the scenery into a psychological space where comfort and alienation exist side by side, reflecting a struggle to return to an inaccessible state of nature.
Each photograph seeks traces of a primordial connection while exposing its current fragility. The images act as evidence of a bond that feels instinctively familiar but impossible to sustain. The camera captures not just the physical figure, but the inevitable distance remaining between the subject and the landscape.
Bridging the personal and collective, the series serves as a visual contemplation on the desire for unity with nature—and the melancholic acceptance that it may no longer be fully possible. Through this lens, Co-existence becomes both a documentation of an attempt and an acknowledgment of its beautiful failure.
“Biraradalıklar / Co-existence” (Artist Book), 2026. Limited edition hand-bound book. Launched at Border_less Art Book Days, Istanbul (May 2026).
Exploring the artist book as an autonomous artwork through material experimentation. Each limited edition reflects a passion for traditional craftsmanship, combining vibrant color iterations with visible coptic binding to highlight the book's structural and tactile anatomy.
An internal view of the handcrafted edition. The analog photograph capturing the body's interaction with nature sits opposite its abstracted line drawing. The thick, punch-needle border frames the paper, transforming the flat spread into a spatial object.
A macro detail revealing the structural construction of the book. Printed paper, raw cardboard, exposed canvas, and tactile yarn borders overlap. A close-up that exposes the manual labor and raw materiality behind the bound archive.