Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran: Memory as Method in New Paintings
In 2025, Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran, an artist from Ankara, resumed her full-time painting career after spending twelve years in design positions in both Istanbul and Ankara. Her artistic focus lies in exploring the remnants of direct experiences, utilizing acrylic and ink on paper. She began her education in graphic design at Ankara Gaziosmanpaşa Anatolian Vocational High School and pursued Painting at Anadolu University, benefiting from an Erasmus grant at Universitat Politècnica de València. Funding her own six-month residency, she created six canvases and approximately 140 works on various materials. Her series, Abstractions, prioritizes memory over representation. Notably, her 2025 artwork, Road to Albufeira, signifies a transformation in her artistic style, as she aspires to create larger pieces in the future.
Key facts
- Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran returned to painting full time in 2025 after roughly twelve years in professional design in Istanbul and Ankara.
- She financed six months of concentrated studio activity as a self-funded residency, producing six canvases and approximately 140 works on paper and other surfaces.
- She studied graphic design at Ankara Gaziosmanpaşa Anatolian Vocational High School and Painting at Anadolu University in Eskişehir.
- An Erasmus grant took her to the Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain for a semester.
- Road to Albufeira, made in 2025 after a trip to Portugal, was her first work using acrylic on Yupo paper.
- In 2011, while at the Universitat Politècnica de València, she created Liquid Memory using found footage painted directly on 8 mm and 16 mm film before transferring it to digital video.
- Her Abstractions series applies paint directly with brushes, hands, and other applicators without starting from a fixed image.
- She generally spends only a few hours on an individual piece, resisting prolonged refinement so the raw energy of its making remains visible.
Entities
Artists
- Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran
Institutions
- Ankara Gaziosmanpaşa Anatolian Vocational High School
- Anadolu University
- Universitat Politècnica de València
- AATONAU
Locations
- Ankara
- Türkiye
- Eskişehir
- Valencia
- Spain
- Istanbul
- Portugal
- Albufeira
Sources
- AATONAU —