Ceren Findik:
Shaping the Mind - Portals of Imagination
Turkish artist Ceren Findik’s imagination is boundless in scope. Her extraordinary paintings bring to life the fantastic landscapes and beings of her dreams, unlocking the portals to her mind. Each piece explores a new region of her expansive universe, featuring figures made of all sorts of abstract shapes and colors. Her work stands as an embodiment of her imaginative mind, where nothing is impossible.
Ceren Findik’s story started where she has spent most of her life, the Republic of Turkey. Nestled between Southeastern Europe and Western Asia, Turkey is a beautiful country to call home. Growing up, Ceren was surrounded by the rich Turkish culture where she could explore her creativity. She became enamored by the artistic expression of artists from across all mediums. From the American poet Emily Dickinson to the Turkish artist Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu; Ceren was finding solace in creation. Ceren’s passion for art was sparked by her innermost dreams and desires.
As a child Ceren found herself disconnected from her peers. She always had trouble properly communicating with people, and this issue persisted through her childhood and into early adulthood. In school she found herself unable to relate to the other kids, and teachers often looked down upon her. The lack of verbal expression in a world built around the spoken word isolated Ceren, leaving her with a deep-seated sense of loneliness. In our exclusive interview, Ceren spoke about how her experience as an introvert pushed her deeper into her mind, blooming an imagination so rich that she could get lost for days.
“I had an introverted childhood. I was not a communicative person. I could not communicate. Very lonely... I was living in my imagination, and I was always painting. Before I went to sleep at night, I always imagined myself in other lives in my imagination. As someone else. This gave me empathy.”
Ceren highlighted how her aversion to social life helped her grow as an artist during our conversation. The years spent isolated and alone watered the fruits of her imagination which eventually manifested itself into her wonderfully dream-like paintings. She found friends in the imaginary people she made, and they danced upon the edge of her kind until they eventually found their way to the canvas. As she felt more alone, painting was the only outlet to feel connected to something. So her imaginary friends began to serve as her muse, allowing her to depict fantastical worlds into a beautiful painting. Ceren’s mental health had a heavy influence on her ability to relay emotional trauma through her work.
While Ceren’s paintings may radiate with the refined aura of an educated artist, her time in school did not contribute to her creative success in any traditional way. Due to her lack of communicative skills, Ceren felt increasingly ostracized throughout her schooling career. Her teachers could never reach her at a deeper level and seemed to give up without offering Ceren the guidance she needed to feel accepted. In our interview Ceren spoke about how teachers would tear up her drawings and toss them in the trash, deeming them unacceptable and not worthy of proper critique. She carried mountains of anxiety higher than her books, making her a nervous and shy person. Despite the hardships of a misunderstood childhood, Ceren still managed to create with a passion that her classmates could never come close to matching.
For Ceren, painting was a form of therapy within her secluded bubble of life. Painting allowed for her to explore her identity beyond the confines of the social world around her, and unlock the magic that lived behind her eyes. Few artists are able to reach such a source of creativity, but for Ceren, it was natural, and crucial to her existence. In our interview, she expressed that her love for Philosophy combined with her passion for art created a fusion of influence that only expanded her artistic range.
“Besides, I am interested in the philosophy of tao and stoa. All of these are my healing companions. I learn a lot from my drawings. They enable me to understand the soul and look at the world without prejudice. It is an infinite and limitless perception. I am constantly moving forward by destroying myself.”
Her artwork serves more purpose than just a form of expression, it allows her to see into the mirrors of perception by defying what is possible within our reality. Ceren’s paintings bend the ethereal nature of her imagination into a mystifying culmination of pure emotion. She becomes “limitless,” and “infinite,” within the colors of the canvas.
To this day Ceren stated that she has no formal process when it comes to creating her work. She said that creation was a journey that’s taken best with no preparation. Her art has trust in the process of life, a relationship with the flow of the world.
“There is an acceptance. I sit at my desk and wait for those images to fall on the paper and accept them. The images present themselves to me. In this process, paper is used as a material. Paper is delicate and fragile.”
When asked about what she hopes viewers gain from her paintings, Ceren said, “I want to make people happy. Even though not every picture of me makes me happy...I want my drawings to touch people's inner world.” So how does an introverted kid with little to no social understanding come to be so selfless in her craft? Love. Through all the ups and downs, one thing persisted in Ceren’s life, and it was the need and want to be loved and love others. There is no greater feeling present in her work, in fact, her paintings are filled to the brim with positive energy. Ceren’s imaginative dreamscapes and lined with the light of her heart’s love, reaching everyone who has the privilege of seeing her work. Words could never describe the emotional resonance Ceren communicates with her brush strokes.
Ceren owes a lot of her success to her vast library of influences. During our interview, Ceren made sure to give flowers to all of her favorite artists, including, Semiha Berksoy, Burhan Uygur, Abidin Dino, Sylvia Plath, Van Gogh, and many more! This love for the art of all mediums has allowed Ceren to connect with people of cultures in a way that extends beyond modern understanding. Ceren said that painting is an essential part of her existence, as it has allowed her to feel more connected with herself while giving back to others.
Alongside her many poetic, and visual influences, Ceren has stated that music is an important part of her creative process.
“It is like a part of everyday life. It is an instrument that combines my paper imaginary writings with lines. I compose the symphony with the music I choose and my pen.
I combine it with my life. I dance. Like purification. I purify my soul. Sound is very important to me, a spark, a fire, with what on paper I don't know if I will encounter it. There's just something inside of me that makes me poke. Then I find it talking on the paper myself. I walk there with my hands. While creating, I think with music. It reminds me a lot. The images and music from my dreams combine. I generally get inspired by my imagination, from myself, or from the events and memories I have experienced.”
Ceren’s relationship with music morphed her artwork into a purification ritual for her soul. She danced with her pen, composing symphonies of the soul with every brushstroke. Her process has become a conversation with a deeper version of herself, one that can only be brought t light on the page and lured out of her mind by music. In her dreamy trance of creation is where the imaginative beings of her work start to take form.
One of the most consistent motifs within Ceren’s work has to be her use of magical characters that defy all sense of practicality. These characters tell a story of their own while also speaking the story of Ceren’s life. She has stated that these beings are an extension of her imagination, and their presence within her work is a representation of herself. To her, they are her friends, equally as real as you and I. Within the battle with loneliness and isolation lightning struck the surface of Ceren’s mind. She has spent years building these characters, developing relationships with them, and learning to understand them as a part of herself. They are simply the inhabitants of her own inner world.
Living in America it can become too easy to shut out the rest of the world. And in a day and age where almost everything is accessible, not everyone can tune in. But for every one thousand well-known artists in the pop-culture consciousness, there are one million unheard voices out there waiting to have their moment in the light. Ceren Findik is no one to be ignored, and especially not by you. Her imaginative work is magical, but it could not be closer to the reality of human existence. As we all fumble our way through this life it is a blessing to have creatives such as Ceren walking the globe reminding us all that love is what comes first, above all things.
If you haven’t had a chance, go check out Ceren’s work on Instagram (linked below) and dive into a world beyond your wildest imaginations.