Mobile Artists on Their Artistry – Interview with Sukru Mehmet Omur
We are delighted to publish the sixth of our new styled interview entitled ‘Mobile Artists on Their Artistry’. Within this interview, we ask highly successful mobile artists twenty questions about their backgrounds, their work, social media, how Covid-19 has influenced their creative life and so much more…
Today, we are proud to publish our latest interview with award winning artist, Sukru Mehmet Omur. He has been working with his iPhone since retirement and now resides in Paris, France following his relocation from Istanbul, Turkey.
To read the others in this series, please go here.
All images ©Sukru Mehmet Omur
How would you introduce yourself to someone who doesn’t know your work?
I am a mobile artist converting himself slightly to analog collage and painting. Photography and digital painting are my preferences on iPhone and iPad.
What name do you use within social media and was this a conscious decision?
I use my whole names and surname within social media. I didn’t want to use any nicknames.
What kind of family did you grow up in?
Simple but protective and caring family with tenderness and love.
Did your childhood influence your ideas about creativity?
Yes, too much especially playing games. I always loved playing games. All kind of games. Life maybe is a scene but is also a game.
Did your parents support your creativity?
Yes, they did.
When was the first time you knew you wanted to be an artist?
Recently, just before my retirement period.
What is creativity to you?
Creativity is a brain game between right and left hemispheres. That makes you create an original idea, art work or musical piece etc.
What did you do before (if appropriate) becoming an artist?
I was an ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeon.
Where are you most creative?
In the plane or train or bus. Travelling…
What inspires you?
Everything inspires me.
Who inspires you?
Beautiful beings, humans, animals, birds etc.
Does your engagement on social media help you to plan your future projects?
Sure, it helps and so much.
What does your average day look like?
Quite busy, working, playing, living, searching, learning, teaching, creating and so on.
Is it your intention to ask questions or make the viewer question what they see?
I like it when people question what I do. Sometimes I question too what I am doing and have some difficulties understanding what I am doing.
Is there humour in your work?
Yes, sometimes not often but I do like humour.
How important is failure in your work process? Do you incorporate it into your creative process?
I believe failure is a part of art work and sometimes turns an ordinary work of art into a masterpiece.
How do you deal with criticism?
It’s Ok for me. Sometimes It helps me to progress. I prefer when it’s done gently.
Has the Covid-19 pandemic influenced your creative life?
Yes It was a very productive and creative period of my life. I created 14 “Night Notebooks” with collages, sketches, vintage photos, story telling with my images and photos. 300 art book as a art object will be produced and published next year. It’s on construction. I can really say that Covid-19 pandemic make me work hard, think, create, learn and produce.
Who dead or alive would you like to have dinner with?
Van Gogh
What is the best piece of advice that you’ve heard and still repeat to others?
Do what you love, be with your loved people.
Please help…
TheAppWhisperer has always had a dual mission: to promote the most talented mobile artists of the day and to support ambitious, inquisitive viewers the world over. As the years pass TheAppWhisperer has gained readers and viewers and found new venues for that exchange. All this work thrives with the support of our community.
Please consider making a donation to TheAppWhisperer as this New Year commences because your support helps protect our independence and it means we can keep delivering the promotion of mobile artists that’s open for everyone around the world. Every contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
