Bio
İlayda Mercankaya is a self-taught visual artist based in Germany. Influenced by her professional background in market research and the systematic evaluation of human behavior, she develops a practice that merges analytical methodology with intuitive painting processes.
Mercankaya develops surfaces through repetition, accumulation, and interaction with material resistance. Lines respond to bodily movement, emotional intensity, and the forces inherent in the surface, producing works that function as records of process rather than planned compositions. Her series investigate line as a topographic system, tracing tension, flow, and structural relationships across space.
She has participated in a Kunstverein exhibition and continues to develop series that explore the intersection of line, material, and spatial mapping.
In Progress | Autoportrait
Statement
Based on the principles of “field notes,” Mercankaya works with various media ranging from hydrofluidic ink to acrylics. She begins by establishing an organic foundation through the unpredictable movement of water or the spontaneous stroke of a silicone wedge.
Subsequent precise lines react to this chaotic framework. Her work attempts to measure the unpredictable, bridge cracks, and navigate paths through instability. This interplay results in abstract topographies that serve as mappings of internal and external landscapes.
In Progress | The Strait