Infinite Experience
Sevde Duman
This digital piece reflects the inner conflicts, transformation, and rebirth I experienced while discovering my queer identity. I created this work in a Zoom Art format, inviting you on an emotional journey that unfolds in layers. Each zoom-in symbolizes the emergence of hidden, suppressed emotions. There is uncertainty and vulnerability, but also a strong sense of hope. I chose the colors and forms entirely based on my feelings. While trying to tell my own story, I hope you find something of your own within it, too.
Denial
While finding myself, I return to the beginning. I look at my childhood and put it on display. I observe myself from the outside, like a spectator. I remember where it all began: enjoying colors, but not yet knowing myself.
Pieces
The cartoons I loved, the color pink, a few lines I wrote in my diary… This drawing brings together fragments from my childhood. Back then, I didn’t know who I was, but the things I felt were clues to my current self. Looking back now, I see how much was hidden in that pose.
Fracture
I’m holding my own body in my arms. I wanted to leave. I am in that silent void between life and death. This moment feels both like an end and a beginning. The time I was closest to, and furthest from, myself.
Room
I’m in my room. I draw, crumple, start again. I feel like a stranger to myself, to my body, to my power to create. I want to express what’s overflowing inside me, but neither words nor lines seem to be enough. This moment is about both creating and being lost.
Reflection
The person in the mirror is actually me. We are the same, but different; parts that touch each other, parts that exist within me. Our black and white world contains some color, like a silent harbinger of hope and change.
Farewell
My first Pride March. I released the part of myself I had hidden for years. This moment is one of the bravest promises I’ve ever made to myself: to be fully, unapologetically me.
Reunion
A feeling of liberation and acceptance within. After a long search, I feel whole, complete, and at peace. The hope and strength rising inside me are carrying me toward a new self.
Home
Peace and belonging. The warmth of being in a place surrounded by love and trust. Like the soft light of a sunset, my soul is calm. I feel at home, whole and real.
Sevde DUMAN (they/them)
Multidisciplinary Artist
They were born in 2002 in Kocaeli. They are a translator and an artist. They see art as a means of self-expression. They pursue an art practice that combines multiple disciplines, creating works using both digital and traditional techniques.
In their work, they refrain from gender roles, and they prioritize aesthetics and emotions. Through art, they aim to connect with others who feel the same way and create an emotional bond with them.
Although they are a translator, they chose to focus on their passion, art, as they could not find enough support for it due to the molds imposed by society.