"From the drawings I’d make on the walls with my family as a child, to the arts I pursue academically today, the arts have provided me with an outlet in which I can experience the world around me on a deeper level.

In my work, I tend to incorporate my Turkish-Canadian identity and the various experiences I’ve lived throughout my life as a connection point between the viewer and the innate experiences that we all share. I like making subtle commentary with my work about social issues, and my own thoughts and feelings through the use of visually-striking imagery and vibrant colour palettes.

Aside from the arts, I love reading and meeting new people to be curious about!"
Portfolio & Socials
Words from Berfu
With my notebook, I wanted each page to be a snapshot of various distinct moments throughout the week. I saved tons of receipts & scraps to glue in, drew some weird stuff, and left some pages half completed (honestly some of those pages really needed saving…)! Even so, my goal was to not overthink about the quality of the pages or to try and polish them beyond what I drew in the moment.
A reoccuring feeling I felt throughout the trip was this interesting combination of familiarity and detachment due to the similarities between Mexico City and my parents’ hometown, Istanbul, Türkiye– a place I haven’t been to in over a decade. I also felt this sense of whiplash leaving a winter storm behind me to land into the bright skies and extreme heats of Mexico City. This contrast between each city was also something I thought about throughout the week. Though many of the pages won’t show these thoughts of connection to my roots directly, a lot of my perspective of the trip was influenced by these nuanced feelings, in combination with the abundance of culture and pride splattered all across Mexico City that left me stunned.
Another major factor that influenced what you will see in my notebook was the instantaneous connection created between me, my peers & supervisors, and Culturans themselves. A trip of this nature isn’t something I had experienced before this, so the energy fostered on the trip felt that much more significant to me. Not many pages have people pictured in them, but every page had at least one other person’s energy involved in one way or another.
Ultimately, having this notebook by my side all week was a reminder of the importance of indulging in the messy and chaotic moments of the present as they hit me, and it allowed me to form a more nuanced look into one of the coolest places I’ve ever been!
Inside Berfu's Journal:
Click to enlarge the pages.
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All featured artwork, text, and imagery remain the sole intellectual property of their respective creators. No part of this exhibition may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means—including screenshotting and downloading—without the prior written authorization of OCAD University and the participants students.