Ahmet Aydın
Atmaca

Compared to other branches of art, sculpting is more prone to using unusual equipment. Many tools like welding machines, drills, grinding machines, chainsaws, jigsaws became such a part of our daily life that sometimes you can’t tell whether you are in an art workshop or a hardware store. Still, this modding pen you see was a wooden spoon once, before I carved it into a sculpture tool. This can be considered an unusual tool.

Modding Pen

Sculpting has many difficulties in terms of production. Bringing a sculpture to life can be technically, economically, and physically challenging. If -ever so rare- there is a moment where I stop producing and thinking, I remind myself to think, start over and never stop. I recall my past self, who was constantly designing, producing, and thinking about sculpting non-stop, without sleeping, despite having fewer opportunities than today. In this way, I work harder as I imagine building a mental bridge between the past-present and the future so that my future self will have more opportunities and the productions I dream of can be brought to life.

The first metal sculpture I made was in 2005 when I was a student.

Metal Sculpture - Ahmet Aydın Atmaca

I can say that I usually work with classic production methods. While sculpting, I start by working on the idea in my mind with a figure or a portrait and try to design beforehand. Because I believe that the concept of design is not a concept innate in art. Art is a process that develops by losing pieces of itself in pursuit of an idea, an image and trying to find itself again. I complete the bust, the figure or body parts and then combine these with other pieces or break them in order to obtain new forms and give them new meanings. Since sculpting is mostly handicraft and tool skills, it turns into a process where you go back and forth between artistry and craftsmanship. So the important thing here is to try to stay in that art part, and the way to achieve this is to master the technique but not be slaves to the technique.

Keymaker - Ahmet Aydın Atmaca

If we think about sculpting, the most important part is to actually “realize” that the work is done. I specifically used the word realize because sometimes a piece is completed and you don’t realize it’s done. So you start spoiling the finished work, destroying it. Recently, I have been trying to surrender to the material and process because I believe that trying to have complete control and always sticking to rules kills creativity. 

I believe there is no such thing as perfect artwork. Art is unique and difficult to define as even though it contains human flaws, it manages to seem perfect to us at times.