MİGRATİON

I began the “Migration” project in 2024. I live in the southwestern part of Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast, in the Gökova Bay. In this region, which is extremely rich in biodiversity, I observe every day that I share the same land and water with creatures other than humans. The project was born from these encounters.

We humans have divided the land and seas; we have drawn boundaries, named them, and claimed them as our own. We have mapped our civilization and our property. Yet the lines on the maps belong only to us. Other living beings live independently of these boundaries; their existence is tied to coexistence and constant movement, to migration.

But human intervention in nature—climate crisis, overhunting, pollution—is irreversibly transforming ecosystems. Habitat loss and disruption of migration routes directly affect species in this region. The animal figures I place on the maps point to species living in my town that are affected by this invasion.

I print animal figures onto ready-made maps using the linocut technique; I reconstruct their habitats with colored pencils. These two overlapping layers—the boundaries drawn by humans and the dynamic presence of living creatures—reveal an invisible conflict. In my work, I aim to make visible the tension between mapped civilization and forgotten ecosystems.