Idil Dursun is a digital artist living in Ankara, Turkey. She has been into art for as long as she can remember. WoW had an enormous influence on her becoming a Concept Artist. She gets her inspiration from other artists and visits Art Stations. Idil believes that it is essential for artists always to feed themselves with new art to expand their vision.
NFT Granny: “Dear Idil. Thank you so much for taking your precious time. Your Art Works are just stunning – they remind me a lot of these new “Sci-Fi” Movies, which my children and grandchildren are watching. Which is your favourite Sci-Fi Movie and why?“
Idil Dursun: Definitely Blade Runner 1982! Its atmosphere is just epic, one of the major impacts of my decision to follow the cyberpunk genre as a concept artist. Other than that, I’m a HUGE fan of “The Witness” episode by the legend Alberto Mielgo of the Love, Death & Robots series.
How did you first become interested in art, and how did you get started with it yourself?
Idil Dursun: I can’t remember the first time I started being interested in it. I have been into art for as long as I can remember. I have loved painting since I was four years old or so. It got built-in time, and I tried different mediums, all very amateur. In middle school, I painted with acrylics and oil paints, primarily landscapes -ironically, with no building in sight. I still have some of those paintings hanging in my parent’s house. I also always loved sketching -primarily portraits- with charcoals. Another passion of mine has always been video games and cyberpunk culture. At some point, probably after Instagram was a thing, I realized how much I was blown away looking at concept art with massive buildings and dystopic sceneries. In high school, I started playing World of Warcraft, which had an enormous impact on my decision to be a concept artist.
I studied architecture in college, and when I was in my 2nd or 3rd year, I decided to be a Concept Artist. Since being a consumer of those works that excite me so much wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted to create them myself. I started playing with shapes and lights during my senior year to learn to generate cyberpunk sceneries. After college, I started working in an architectural visualization office, where I owe most of my software and technical knowledge at this moment and began building my own futuristic world concepts.
Could you tell us more about the story of your Work “One Way Ticket”
Idil Dursun: There isn’t much deep story for that piece! One can tell from my other works that I’m obsessed with the “threshold” idea, which is simply a state of change in my works. On “One Way Ticket”, we see a super crowded city below, almost too nested. You can barely see what’s going on there. On the other hand, the top part where the trains are taking us is very different from the bottom city layout and epic. This is where the trains take the passengers to a new, strange place, and our “character” is going there with no intention of returning.
Open on opensea.io
Which of your artworks are you most proud of?
Idil Dursun: I am proud of all of them. Although, some of them have a special place in my heart.
“Threshold” is my first ever NFT sale on Foundation and is also one of my earliest cyberpunk environment concept attempts.
Open on Foundation.app
“The Last Bastion” is one of my favourites as well and my first work on Nifty Gateway, a collaboration with @Kingofmidtown1 for his first Nifty collection. It was the artwork that later on made me create my own collection on Nifty Gateway.
Open on Niftygateway.com
“Edge City” is my biggest sale so far, sold on SuperRare to @StarryNight_Cap.
Lastly, my personal favorite work is “Prologue”, which is also the first work of mine with my own smart contract (big thanks to Manifold and Lyndon) done for Pellas Gallery in Boston, curated by @Ness_Graphics and produced by @gaucho2121.
Open on superrare.com
Is there an artist you would like to work with? Like a collaboration?
Idil Dursun: I get asked this question very often, and my answer remains the same! Its Drift and Annibale Siconolfi. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Drift on the “Slices of TIME” collection of TIMEPieces, with my work “Highgardens of NYC” and his fantastic piece “As the World Turns” with the same theme of New York City in different years, mine showing it 100 years later from Drift’s work. I would love to collaborate with Annibale if we can align our schedules.
We are curious 🙂 Would you be willing to share any plans of upcoming projects?
Idil Dursun: Unfortunately, most of them are confidential now! I can, however, share that there will be another Nifty Gateway collection this year, the second part of my first collection there, “Go Up and Never Stop”. I will also be doing a new drop on SuperRare soon.
Who or what are your biggest influences or sources of inspiration?
Idil Dursun: My favourite artists mostly inspire me. Some of them are Annibale Siconolfi, Anthony Eftekhari, Dangiuz, Raphael Lacoste, Alberto Mielgo, Eytan Zana, Thomas Dubois, Paul Chadeisson, Syd Mead, Dylan Cole, Wojtek Fus and so many more. I visit Artstation very often for inspiration, which is my first step before starting to create new art. I think it’s essential for artists always to feed themselves with new art to expand their vision. Besides that, I am a video game freak, and they inspire me so much.
How do you enjoy the NFT Art you have collected? Do you have a way to display it for example at home?
Idil Dursun: I love my humble collection so much! Collecting NFTs is genuinely addicting and one of my passions now! I recently created an ONCYBER gallery with some of the NFTs I have collected on ETH and Tezos. Here’s the link if anyone’s interested in visiting.
I will be moving to my own place very soon and thinking about decorating it with the artworks I have collected. I have a bunch of fine prints from artists I love and collected from, waiting to be the jewels of my place! For now, I have “Started from the bottom” up on my bedroom wall by @dangiuz.
What would be your biggest wish for the NFT Art scene? What is currently missing / not fully developed to reach full potential out of it?
Idil Dursun: We just discussed this with my dear friend Andre Vieira just the other day. My biggest wish for NFT space is for people to not see valuable artworks as some sort of “currency” that they purchase “just” for flipping and focus on the art more. I understand that this will probably always be the case, but I wish to see a more art-driven community.
In your opinion, what is the most disturbing thing about NFTs and crypto art?
Idil Dursun: Fake people in our community and people who treat artists as if they are just a tool for making money. Also, the opposite, I hate seeing people who think of collectors as their money bag. I believe there should be a genuine relationship between the artist and collector.
Which tools do you use to create your art?
Idil Dursun: I use 3Ds Max, Corona Renderer and Adobe Photoshop.
What does a typical day for you look like, and what do you like to do when you’re not busy with NFT Art?
Idil Dursun: Until April 2022, I worked full time at the ArchViz company, where I started working after graduation. I used to be in the office between 10 am and 6 pm and then go home and work on my personal stuff, NFTs. I had very little time left to sleep, socialize and basically anything else. Since then I have been working there as a part-time employee. I can now meet with my friends (one of my favourite activities is meeting and hanging out with friends in a coffeehouse), play video games and watch TV series. I may answer this question better when I fully adapt to my new part-time worker life.
What do you feel the moment a project you’ve created dropped?
Idil Dursun: Excitement, relief and stress at the same time.
Where do you like to travel?
Idil Dursun: The Netherlands to see my boyfriend. Also, USA because I’ve never been there, and thanks to NFTs, I’ve met some fuckin amazing people living there.
- Full Name: İdil “Jarvinart” Dursun
- Date of Birth: October 23rd 1997
- Current hometown: Ankara, Turkey
- Languages she speaks: Turkish, English, Gibberish
- What did you want to be when you were a child: An Architect
- Education: Architecture
- First Job: CGI Artist in an ArchViz company. Still working there.
