ÖYKÜ ÖZOÄžUL
writing/searching for meaning
Bio
Öykü ÖzoÄŸul (b. Nicosia, Cyprus) is a transdisciplinary artist and writer exploring how movement, cultural history, and societal pressures shape home, belonging, connection, and memory. Her practice blends automatic writing, abstract wordplay, and collaborative processes to engage with identity and collective narratives.
She studied Fine Art at the University of Nicosia (2017–Jan. 2022) and completed a Master’s in Fine Art at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (2022–2024). Experiences in Cyprus and the Netherlands inform her work, providing both a foundation and a lens for investigating personal and societal transitions.
Statement
Öykü ÖzoÄŸul’s practice investigates how societal structures and cultural histories shape experiences of belonging, memory, and the body. She is particularly interested in how individuals and communities navigate being othered, overlooked, or constrained by systemic pressures, and how these dynamics manifest in sensory and emotional experience.
Her research is currently in a phase of self-reflection, taking shape through automatic writing, sensual abstraction in painting, and performative gestures enacted in public or open spaces. These practices are documented through what she terms “Somatic Mappings” — a method that traces interactions with both the audience and herself, fostering reflective and analytical engagement while allowing the work to evolve in dialogue with others.
Through this ongoing process, ÖzoÄŸul engages with forgotten or overlooked bodily sensations and emotions, exploring how people can reconnect with themselves, with each other, and with the somatics of a place. She asks: Do you remember how to listen to yourself? What is your stagnancy, your in-between space?