Derin Aktas

Work

Manifesto

i don’t think painting is about expressing who i am.

if i knew who i was, i probably wouldn’t need to paint at all.

every work begins with a question i can’t answer. every symbol, every repeated eye, every line, every figure exists because language reaches its limit before emotion does. painting allows me to stay inside that uncertainty a little longer.

i’m not interested in creating images that explain themselves. i’m interested in images that remember things i have forgotten, that reveal parts of me i wasn’t ready to meet, and that keep changing every time i look at them. sometimes they feel more honest than i am.

my work isn’t a collection of answers. it’s a record of contradictions. tenderness and cruelty. trust and fear. control and surrender. the constant negotiation between the person i believe i am and the person my actions reveal.

i don’t paint to document my life. i paint to question it.

maybe every painting is just another failed attempt to understand myself.

and maybe that’s enough.

Who

i'm derin aktaş, a multidisciplinary artist from istanbul, currently based between istanbul and turin.

i've been creating for as long as i can remember. over the years, my practice has expanded through painting, photography, design, creative direction, and collaborative projects. i've never felt connected to just one medium, but painting has always remained the place i return to.

i'm currently studying design in turin while continuing to develop my artistic practice. living between different cities and cultures has shaped the way i observe, think, and create. i'm constantly inspired by people, travel, architecture, cinema, and everyday moments, collecting fragments that eventually find their way into my work.

through my practice, i'm interested in exploring identity, memory, and the contradictions that make us human.

2026

Under Their Gaze — Istanbul, Turkey

2026

Source / Nightride / Unburden — Berlin, Germany

2026

Outside — Milan, Italy

2026

It Was Me — Istanbul, Turkey

2025

Unfurl — Turin, Italy

2025

Hate & Sex — Berlin, Germany

2025

DIEKWIA — Istanbul, Turkey