Bio
Ilayda 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 merges analytical methodology with durational drawing processes.
Her practice investigates line as an indexical system, tracing time, tension, bodily presence, and structural relationships. Mercankaya develops surfaces through repetition, accumulation, and interaction with material resistance, producing works that function as records of time and space.
She has exhibited her work at The Württembergischer Kunstverein and continues to develop series that explore the intersection of line, material, and spatial mapping.
Artist Statement
My work originates in portraiture; while the figure has disappeared, the narrative remains. I approach drawing as a system for mapping tension and structural limits. My process relies on setting foundational rules and watching how materials interact with or break them across different environments.
This takes shape across interconnected series. Topographies documents states of displacement and temporal suspension. By forcing fragile tools into unstable spaces (such as waiting rooms, cafes, or transit areas) the physical act of drawing creates material friction, making the line a direct trace of that chaotic environment. In contrast, a body of accompanying studies is executed in the controlled, quiet environment of the studio. Removed from external tension, these studies isolate the line itself, testing material variables, internal states, and arriving at formations where the topographic fragment resolves into identifiable form.
