ART AS A FORM OF THINKING
 

In his treatise on painting (Codex Urbinas Latinus 1270), Leonardo da Vinci advises painters to find inspiration in everyday objects: walls, ashes, clouds, and mud. By contemplating these seemingly mundane things, marvelous ideas can be discovered. Leonardo emphasizes the intellectual nature of painting, where the mind of the painter is stimulated to create new compositions and inventions.
 
Leonardo's perspective challenges the romantic notion of the artist prevalent in the twentieth century. For him, painting is primarily an intellectual pursuit, where the painter thinks, discovers, and invents. The complexity of art, with its multiple layers of ideas, allows great artworks to transcend time and speak to a wide audience.
 
Artistic education and production involve a continuous interaction of various disciplines, practices, and knowledge. Mastery of art history, theory, or technical skills alone is insufficient. The artistic process combines these elements and transforms them into a unique form of expression.
 
Artistic practice and art theory/history differ in their material and abstract reality. While theoretical or historical perspectives may contradict each other, an artwork exists as a tangible object. Those interested in art must be flexible in navigating this reality.
 
Over the last three decades, the discipline of art history has undergone a cultural turn, aiming to elevate itself in a multidisciplinary and global context. Recognizing the impossibility of capturing the "historical fact" and the limitations of self-referential narratives, art history seeks new approaches.
 
My artistic research focuses on the notion of "structure" in art and aims to interpret artworks through a theoretical lens. Through visual examples, I communicate timeless information by constructing alternative narratives. For instance, I examine Velazquez's "Las Meninas" to shed light on the artist's original ideas for a contemporary audience. This examination is not an aesthetic reinterpretation but a theoretical exploration influenced by Faucoult's essay on "Las Meninas."
 
Using digital manipulation and time-based media like animation and video, I employ a structural narrative to investigate "Las Meninas." By digitally editing and transposing the artwork into different mediums, I question whether the masterpiece resides in its technique or in the underlying idea. This approach highlights the fundamental structural elements of the painting, such as time, space, and juxtaposition.
 
Through my visual production, I conceive art as a medium itself and as a realm for interactive engagement between theory, practice, and a wider audience. I aim to connect viewers with the internal structure and underlying concepts of artworks from various periods. As an artist, I embrace the role of a thinker and traveler, exploring the intricate and interconnected paths of art.

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