10 Questions with Dilara Koselioren

Dilara Koselioren was born in 1997 in Istanbul, Turkey. After completing her studies, she came to London (UK) to study at the University of Arts London, where she studied Interior Design. During her study, she started expressing her art with graphic and digital design. After completing her BA in Interior Design in 2021, she started focusing on her art career as an artist. She attended different art exhibitions and publications, such as Always Together (The Holy Art Gallery London), Utopia Group Exhibition (The Holy Art Gallery Athens), CICA New Media Art Conference (NMAC) 2023 as a 'Solo Exhibitor', London Design Festival 2023, London Design Fair 2023.

She is reflecting on human emotion and focusing on how daily interactions and different socio-economic and cultural differences, and the areas that we live in affect our daily lives. She is asking questions and making viewers of her work think. She reflects on how any part of society can relate to emotions and find something. That's how she is improving her art.

www.dilarakoseliorenart.com

INTERVIEW

First of all, how would you describe yourself and your work?

My name is Dilara Koselioren; I was born in 1997 in Istanbul, Turkey, to Kurdish parents. Both of my parents were working and having a hard time with their marriage and personal life. Despite emotional struggles, I had a pretty good life and good education. After I came to study at the University of Arts London, I had a chance to see my life from far away; it made me realize so many things about me. I think my artwork represents my life in so many different ways. I only base my art on my emotions. I try my best not to use any specific subject to represent emotions. I believe as humans, we can all have different experiences and lives only we can understand, but emotions don't have identities and belong to everyone. I use Graphic and Digital Design to express my artwork.

Why are you an artist, and when did you first become one?

For me being an artist means I can express my ideas and my emotions freely; being completely free may not mean so much to others however being in control of my own life as decision-making is something I always had to rebel to get it. This is something I got control over in recent years, even though I was always interested in art or art history. I always felt that I needed to push harder in life. The more in life I made my own decisions in life, the more I struggled and succeeded. I believe my art expression became stronger.

You work primarily with digital art. Why did you choose this medium, and how does it help you in pursuing your career goals?

This wasn't always like that. I started with hand drawings and collages even though they were above average, and they made me understand the basics of design; after I got into the Interior Design department at the University of Arts London, I started using more and more digital software to express my ideas, and I'm so thankful that during our University years, our professors always encouraged us to find different ways to express our emotions. I realized that the best way I express my emotions, ideas, and design is through Graphic and Digital Art. 

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? Do you have any routine or set of actions that help you get in the right zone to create?

Usually, I start creating a model in my own mind first, and during the day, even if I'm talking with my friends, I'm still thinking about it in the back of my mind; this can take weeks, days, or hours. Always one emotion or one event of that day is triggering that design in my mind. Not only my own life expressing, but I get inspiration from other people's life or some story I heard. This could be music as well. I don't have any routine, but one thing that is hard and affecting my daily life, yet I can not do it another way as well, is working during the night till morning. This became really my norm during the University. I'm pretty sure lots of Art University students can relate; however, this continues, and even though it makes me tired sometimes, I still believe I'm most productive during the night till the morning.

In your statement, you mention how your work reflects human emotions and "how daily interactions and different socio-economic and cultural differences and the areas that we live affect our daily lives." What are your sources of inspiration? Do you have any artist or artistic movement that particularly influences your work?

Definitely, my inspiration is coming from my lifestyle growing up; growing up with a blessed socio-economic background has really been a blessing. However, my parents were not this lucky growing up, so I knew there were always different stories while growing up, even though I didn't see any difference in human relationships. Clearly, the majority of the world has different ideas. That's why it is really important for me to have different people from the same society able to connect with my artwork, even though this doesn't mean their life would be different. I want my art to be at least one subject that includes everyone. This is something I'm really critical about as well. Even though art is universal, in some ways, it feels only belongs to certain socio-economic groups. I believe it is my duty as an artist to make my art more accessible and welcoming. I get inspiration from so many different art movements, but giving as an example rather than movement, I would like to give examples of Olafur Eliasson when it comes to bringing different backgrounds together with different installations. He is one of the most inspirational artists of our generation.

What's the essential element in your art?

I believe I have more than one element in my artwork. I focus a lot on human emotions and our daily interactions as humans and how we share the same emotions but live and express them differently; I believe if we can have empathy, things can be solved easily. I believe we can have more empathy for each other if we see each other less differently. I focus on my emotions first and reflect on my art so others can be part of it as well.

The colors you use seem to have an important role in your work. How do you choose them, and what do they represent for you? 

Mainly colors represent my emotional state at that moment and concept. I believe this is the same for all of us. The way we dress, the way we decorate our houses and our art are all based on our mood at that moment. I don't choose or say I will choose certain colors before I start my projects, but it happens naturally; I like to start my projects with certain ideas in my mind, but I like to let my own feelings decide different details. I believe it is important to keep my art based on my feeling representation rather than visuals.

Is there any other medium or technique you would like to experiment with?

I have different ideas, that I want to start new concepts and projects. I want to not only be limited by screens, especially my art based on society. I believe my next step should be to create art in a more public way, not only on screens but on the streets, buildings, or train stations. Maybe not necessarily places where the public would think they would find art, but what I want to do is create a moment where people can see find something in them in their busy lives. 

What do you think about the art community and market?

I have different views of the art community and market depending on which art community and market; like every industry, there are different communities inside the communities; for me, what I try to do my best is base my art on my emotions and not try to use subjects that are popular, or there is not so much meaning behind it trends can pass, but emotions always will stay.

Finally, any projects you are looking forward to for this year?

There have been amazing projects this year for me as a young artist, especially me being part of the London Design Fair and London Design Festival. Also, there are more projects I have this summer. This year has been a really amazing year for me as my art career was not easy, but it definitely made me learn a lot of things and also made me improve a lot. Thanks to that, I feel so happy.
I want to thank the Al-Tiba9 team so much for this interview opportunity and thank you so much for viewers taking the time to read my interview.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.