Artist, Designer, Creative Director,
​Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran was born in Ankara, Türkiye in 1989.
She completed her high school education at Ankara GaziosmanpaÅŸa Anatolian Vocational High School, specializing in Graphic Design. Then, in 2007, she was admitted to the Department of Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, EskiÅŸehir Anadolu University, and relocated to EskiÅŸehir to pursue her undergraduate studies. During her time there, she was awarded a scholarship through the EU Erasmus Student Exchange Programme and spent one semester studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Universitat Politècnica de València in Valencia, Spain.
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Following her graduation, she worked full-time for twelve years in Istanbul and Ankara, undertaking roles such as art director, illustrator, product designer, and occasionally copywriter at various advertising agencies and technology firms. She has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions, publications, and events. As of 2025, she continues her professional practice full-time at her own studio in Ankara.
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Beyond her dedication to arts and design, Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran has an interest in exploring the world while keeping illustrated travel journals, engaging with narratives in science fiction and fantasy literature, and developing and sketching her own original stories.
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[TR] Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran, 1989 yılında Ankara’da doÄŸdu.
Lise öÄŸrenimini Ankara GaziosmanpaÅŸa Anadolu Meslek Lisesi Grafik Tasarım Bölümü'nde tamamladı. Daha sonra, Anadolu Üniversitesi Güzel Sanatlar Fakültesi Resim Bölümü'nü kazanarak EskiÅŸehir'e gitti. Burada okurken kazandığı AB Erasmus öÄŸrenci deÄŸiÅŸim programı bursu ile Ä°spanya Valencia’da Universitat Politècnica de València Üniversitesi'nin Güzel Sanatlar Fakültesi'nde 1 yarı yıl sanat eÄŸitimi aldı.
EÄŸitiminin ardından 12 yıl boyunca, sırasıyla Ä°stanbul ve Ankara'da, çeÅŸitli reklam ajansları ve teknoloji firmalarında tam zamanlı olarak sanat yönetmenliÄŸi, illüstratörlük, ürün tasarımcılığı, zaman zaman da reklam yazarlığı yaptı. Ulusal ve uluslararası birçok sergi, yayın ve etkinlikte yer aldı. 2025 yılı itibariyle de tam zamanlı olarak Ankara'da kendi atölyesinde çalışmalarına devam ediyor.
Öykü Akkoyunlu Davran, sanat ve tasarım alanındaki ilgisinin yanında, dünyayı gezerek çizimli notlar almayı, bilim-kurgu ve fantastik edebiyat alanındaki anlatıları takip etmeyi, kendi geliÅŸtirdiÄŸi hikayeler üzerinde düÅŸünüp birÅŸeyler karalamayı çok seviyor. ​​
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Artist Statement​
As an artist, designer, writer and creator of things... My artistic practice is built on experience and spontaneity. I have worked with a wide range of materials over the years, but at times, I work only with ideas. Sometimes paint is not enough, so I turn to words. It’s all part of the same act: bringing fragments together.​
What I try to express might be a landscape, a memory, or a fleeting feeling. The essential element is freedom — the freedom of body and mind to exist and express without interruption. What I create is a trace of a moment, a poetic residue of time impressed onto a surface. It’s an imprint of our unique existence. In those moments, technique dissolves. Meaning takes over. I see technique as something that enters briefly — a pause, a support for the speeding mind. But once released from it, the creative mind becomes free again.​ My inspirations lie somewhere between Impressionism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism. I navigate the space between these movements — a space where intuition leads and rules blur.
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