About the Artist

I wanted to become a musician. So I went to art school.

I was born in Alanya, a coastal town in southern Turkey. After losing my mother at the age of five, I was raised by my father, a former political activist who had survived persecution, imprisonment, and extraordinary personal hardships.

Despite everything he had experienced, my father encouraged a childhood full of curiosity and experimentation. From dancing and theatre to sports, cooking, music, and arts and crafts, there was always something new to discover. He never bought me toy guns, but almost everything else seemed worth exploring.

Looking back, I believe that growing up among so many different activities helped shape the way I approach creativity today. Perhaps versatility became my way of navigating the world, finding possibilities where there appeared to be none.

Music eventually became my greatest obsession.

By my teenage years, a day without playing the guitar was almost unimaginable. I spent countless hours learning complicated solos, performing with bands, and competing in music competitions. By the end of high school, I had become an award-winning young instrumentalist, convinced that music would remain at the center of my life.

Then came the question of university.

At the time, I had a rather questionable philosophy: "Nobody can teach you how to be a rock star."

So, naturally, I went to art school.

What initially seemed like a departure from music eventually became an unexpected extension of it. Studying art and design introduced me to new materials, techniques, and ways of thinking. Instead of simply learning how to play an instrument, I began wondering what would happen if I could invent one.

One experiment led to another. Over the years, I began developing my own percussive string instruments, sound-reactive sculptures, and wearable objects. Ceramics gradually met electronics, traditional craftsmanship met digital fabrication, and musical performance became a place where all these different interests could coexist.

Today, my artistic practice, ZeHekk, brings these creations together through original music and live performance.

I design instruments that allow me to explore new ways of playing. I create sculptures that react to sound, and footwear and eyewear tailored to the human body through digital technologies. Each object can exist independently, but together they become parts of a larger performance.

This exploration also became the foundation of my master's research in Design at Vilnius Academy of Arts, where I investigated how product design can contribute to individuality and authenticity in performing arts.

I am still fascinated by the same questions that accompanied my childhood: What else could something become? What happens when we combine things that don't usually belong together? And how can an object, a sound, or a performance change the way somebody feels?

I never really stopped wanting to become a musician.

I just ended up designing much of the world surrounding the music.