Journey is a foundational series of ink and charcoal drawings documenting the emergence of line as a tool for spatial mapping. Responding to personal and global crises, these works mark the transition from expressive gesture to the structured topographical language that defines the later series.

Artwork in a call for peace by Ilayda Mercankaya. This piece depicts the deformed body of a child killed in airstrikes in abstract form, with brush strokes and detailed line work.

This work depicts the deformed body of a child killed in airstrikes.

The delicate brushwork is interrupted by harsh lines scratched into the paper with a sharp nib. The surface is physically scarred. The damage is not symbolic, but material. Fragility and violence occupy the same space. The damaged paper mirrors the mutilated body buried beneath the rubble.

An abstract composition in ink and charcoal, where spherical dense darkness is pierced by sharp white lines.

A dense, enclosing field contains subtle internal textures, but no exit. Like many oppressive states, it forms a livable yet inescapable environment.

The surface bears the marks of repeated incisions attempting to break free, though most leave the barrier intact. Where the paper finally tears, the underlying layer is exposed. Light enters only through the damage. Liberation requires personal risk, rupture, and consequence. The rupture does not guarantee escape. It marks the moment the individual fully confronts and reacts to their situation.

Abstract organic line art painted with Indian ink, showing diverging and converging lines exploring relationship dynamics

Each line displays the space between division and reunion, movement and stillness, creation and erasure.

Ink painting with round forms that swirl with detail and intensity, adorned with organic line work, depicting a state of disorientation.

The work visualizes a moment of disorientation and being overwhelmed through flowing, circular swirls of ink. An organic, topographical linework is layered over this. It does not serve as a rigid map; rather, it contains the uncontrolled movements and gives the surface a new direction. This grounding act of drawing reflects the essence of the work: powerlessness does not pass simply by waiting. In the face of injustice, it is conscious, ethical action that restores our orientation and agency. The lines thus become a manifestation of this intervention.

Abstract organic line art painted with Indian ink on paper, resembling topographical maps

This work maps a difficult terrain and is a representation of the ground one navigates during moments of challenge: physical, psychological, or ethical. It demonstrates how perseverance determines direction, even under conditions that defy comprehension.

A dense, spherical composition of the Earth in Indian ink and charcoal, drawn by Ilayda Mercankaya

A dense, spherical composition of ink and charcoal. A suffocating mass that reflects what we’ve done to the planet, and to ourselves.

Abstract black-and-white ink painting by Ilayda Mercankaya featuring fluid brushstrokes, organic shapes, ink splatters, and expressive linear elements on white paper, signed in the lower right corner.

The final work in the series, Journey, was created under extreme physical limitations. The lines are raw, random, and uncalculated. They record the physical act of creation itself. Every stroke is an act of refusal: a refusal to submit to pain, limitations, or circumstances. This work evades mere representation: it documents the immediate and material resistance of body and mind.


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