Twin Studies | Ilayda Mercankaya

The ongoing series explores the area between what we inherit and what we choose.

I treat the torn paper and the random stains as a shared “DNA”, the starting point that neither twin can control. On top of this, I draw topographical lines, tracing a unique path for each.

An accidental painting of the World. Ink spill on paper resembling a world map, overlaid with fine topographic lines.

The World, 2025

Acrylic and Indian ink on cotton rag

21 x 29.7 cm

An accidental painting of the World. Unlike the rest of the series, this painting does not have a pair. It is the origin that opened the dialogue: How much influence do we have over our lives?

I had stretched a sheet of paper, preparing for a watercolor painting. Then, an accidental spill of indigo ink ruined the plan. For five years, the paper stayed exactly like that: stretched on a board, stained.

The spill was a circumstance, completely unplanned and unasked for. It took me five years to figure out what to do with it.

Diptych experiment: Two identical ink stains subjected to different linear interpretations. The line work varies in density and structure to test how the same form changes through drawing.

Contourol, 2025

Acrylic and Indian ink on cotton rag

Diptych, 29.7 x 42 cm (each)

Abstract ink form overlaid with dense, branching line work that resembles the porous structure of a coral reef.

Coral, 2026

Liquid watercolor and Indian ink on handmade recycled cotton rag

Diptych, 9 x 12 cm (each)

The title, Coral, references the organic structure of the image. To mirror the nature of coral, which grows through an unpausing process, the work was created in a single “continuum” without interruption. The two halves share an identical composition, as they are torn from the same original sheet of paper.