ARTIST STATEMENT
Idil Duman (she/they), object designer and artist from Turkey, plays with mechanics of functionality and fluidity of sentiment in her work. Using her education and practice as a furniture designer and her personal research on Turkic and Anatolian nomadism, Duman experiments with adding and removing utility from objects, aiming to test the limits of user interaction and invoking collective emotion. They aim to portray that objects are versatile in providing function, and holding memory.
“When i was leaving Turkey to study in America, my mom put a dozen bags of Turkish coffee and a pot in my suitcase that was already over the weight limit, and told me: “don’t waste money on st*rbucks over there.” I couldn’t throw away the bags, though. I couldn’t separate from the iconic old pillow-shaped metallic plastic packaging design. It was obvious I had some disconnect from the coffee culture my mom practices every morning and afternoon. I put these products that were made to be used and consumed up on the wall, both removing their intended functionality and utilizing them as art at the same time. Losing accessibility on the wall is my disconnect from the Turkish coffee culture and habits. In addition to that, by staining ash wood with my opened and expired packet to make a shelf to display the coffee pot, I found ways to play with what becomes waste and how cultural foods can be used to become un-orthodox materials.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Idil Duman (b. Turkey 1999) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer whose work is situated at the intersection of ethnography, functionality, and industrial design. She designs and crafts furniture, ornament, and multimedia pieces that explore the concept of utility and sentiment. Duman pursued BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago AIADO department in 2023. She has exhibited her architectural and design works in SAIC Galleries, John David Mooney Foundation and Offcut Showroom. They live and function in Chicago.
© Idil Duman