BIO
Askin Ercan is an artist and academic whose practice focuses on ecological concerns, particularly water ecology. Working across disciplines, Ercan produces research-based works that investigate environmental threats, urban transformation, and the fragile relationship between humans and natural systems.
Employing a diverse range of artistic media—including video, photography, scanography, clay, printmaking, and game design—Ercan explores water as both a material and a conceptual agent. In recent years, they have developed game-based artistic projects that invite participants to collectively reflect on water politics, memory, and environmental responsibility.
With a long-standing commitment to research-driven practice, Ercan integrates artistic production with critical inquiry, creating works that operate between art, ecology, and social engagement. Their projects often examine water not only as a physical resource but also as a carrier of memory, narrative, and ecological knowledge.
Education
Ph.D. in Painting
Gazi University, Institute of Fine Arts, 2014–2019
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M.A. in Fine Arts Education
Ä°nönü University, Social Sciences Institute, 2006–2009
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B.A. in Fine Arts Education
Dicle University, Ziya Gökalp Faculty of Education, 2000–2004
Academic Position
Associate Professor
Bilecik Seyh Edebali University, 2022–Present
Residencies and International Programs
2025 — Cité des Arts – Deniz Villaları Residency Program (supported by the French Institute), Paris
2025 — Artist in Residence, Gate 27 Artist Residency Program, Istanbul
2025 — Water Memory – Forecast Türkiye (collaboration with Karantina, Selçuk Municipality, Invisible Dust and Çamtepe Ecology; curated by Alice Sharp)
2024 — KONSERVE – Inter-City Artist Exchange Programme Network, European Union & Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts Culture, Dialogue and Support Programme, Izmir
2024 — A Short-Lived Neighborhood, Nazım Hikmet Cultural House, Nilüfer Art, Bursa
2023 — Spaces of Culture, International Mobility Programme, Amsterdam-Rotterdam
2023 — The Threshold Collaborative, Workshop for Artists and Curators, The Station – Nesin Villages,Izmir
2022 — Istanbul Biennial Production and Research Programme, Istanbul
2022 — 2nd International Perre Art Workshop, Adıyaman
Solo Exhibitions
2024 — If There Is Magic on This Planet, It Is Contained in Water, Goethe-Institut – Gallery Vitrin, Ankara (curated by Yasemin Ülgen)
2023 — The Invisibility of the Healing & What Water Tells, Pasaj @ Barın Han, Istanbul
2021 — Critical Threshold, Tosca Art, Ankara
2018 — The Girl on the Wire, TAC Gallery, Tulsa, USA
2016 — The Wind and Voyage, Wild Fork, Tulsa, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 — On the Surface Belowground, Greenhouse Art Days, Antalya – Geyikbayırı (curated by Melike Bayık)
2025 — Trivial Reasons, Cendere Art Museum, Istanbul (curated by Ezgi Bakçay & Sena Tural)
2025 — Spring Gathering – Merkezkaç, Diyarbakır (curated by Ezgi Bakçay)
2024 — Among the Ruins, Barın Han, Istanbul (CulturCivic – funded by the European Union)
2024 — Resident Soils, Eldem Art Space Dalyancı Mansion, Eskisehir (curated by Yasemin Ülgen)
2024 — 5th Circular National Environmental and Art Activities, Semsa Pozcu Cultural House, Mersin (curated by Yasemin Ülgen)
2024 — KONSERVE Exhibition, European Union & IKSV Culture, Dialogue and Support Programme, Izmir
2023 — Anesthetic Awareness, A4 Gallery, Diyarbakır (CulturCivic – funded by the European Union)
2023 — 4th Circular National Environmental and Art Activities, Amphitheater, Mersin (curated by Bengü Gün)
2022 — Contemporary Istanbul, 17th Edition (Loading Archive)
2022 — Bat Art Lab, Critical Threshold – Artist Talk
2021 — No Seat at the Table: Gentrification and Residential Displacement in Turkey and the Netherlands, Istanbul
2021 — Corona Monument, Eldem Art Space, Fırın
2021 — CICA Experimental Film & Video, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
2020 — Together, Kova Art Space, Ankara
2020 — The Heirs, Hinterland Galerie, Vienna
2019 — Unter Demselben Himmel, Luis Leu, Karlsruhe
2018 — TAC@AHHA 30th Tulsa Artist Coalition, Juried Exhibition, Tulsa, USA
2018 — 5x5, TAC Gallery, Tulsa, USA
2018 — Talking Censorship: Single Traces, Common Grounds, International Workshop (Turkey–Austria–Italy)
2017 — The Settlement of Time, 27th Istanbul Art Fair
2017 — Crossing Borders, Living Arts Tulsa
2016 — The Annual College of Medicine Art Show, The Ohio State University
2015 — Young Contemporary Artist Project, Cermodern, Ankara (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
2015 — METU Art Festival 16, KKM Art Gallery, Ankara
2015 — International Artist Meeting, Amed Art Gallery
2013 — Bakur 2, Kuzey 2, North 2, Amed Art Gallery
Workshops
2024 — Water Direction Game Workshop, Tohum Art Initiative, Urla / Ä°zmir
2024 — Water Direction Game Workshop, Goethe-Institut, Ankara
2010 Free fall Apartment project, Istanbul, Turkey
2009 Payra I’Hers’Artist Meeting, Toulouse, France
2007 Uchisar Artist Meeting, Nevsehir,Turkey
2007 Here as the center of the world Pluto, Enschede, Holland
2007 Here as the center of the world Villa de Bank, Enschede, Holland
2007 Here as the center of the world, Diyarbakır Art Center,Turkey
1998 DOORS Anatolian Fine Arts High School, Diyarbakır, Turkey
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Awards
2018 "TAC@AHHA" 30th Tulsa artist coalition juried exhibition, Jurior's choice award
Tulsa, OK USA
2016 The Annual College of Medicine Art Show, The Ohio State University, Honorable Mention
Columbus, USA
2015 Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Young Contemporary Artist Competition Winner.
2012 Young, Fresh, Different 3, CDA projects (exhibiting)
2010 2. Söbitay ÖZER Art Competition (ÇAGSAV) (exhibiting)
2009 Inönü University 4. National Art Competition (exhibiting)
Publications and Conference Presentations
2025 — Oral Presentation: “The Imaged and the Echoed: Nature and Hyperobjects”
2nd National Short Film, Video and Photography Symposium, Barış Manço Cultural Center, Istanbul (Supported by the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
2022 — “Narrator of Unshowed Art,” Pearson Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities
2022 — “The Construction of Video Art in the Context of Deconstruction,” Ä°nsanat Journal of Art, Design and Architecture Research
2021 — “Making Something Out of Nothing: Noah Purifoy’s Junk Dada Exhibition and Found Objects,” Ulakbilge Journal of Social Science
2021 — “Site-Specific Art as a Field of Sensory Experience,” International Journal of Communication and Art
2021 — “A Critical Overview of Godard’s Scenarios of Passion and Nam June Paik’s Mirage Stage,” International Journal of Art & Aesthetics
2021 — “Designing Experience in New Media Art,” JIA Journal
2019 - Postmodernizm and video in deconstruction parenthesis, Asos Congress 6. International Symposium on Fine Arts, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Alanya, 2019
2019 - As a practice of art, construction of video in the context of reconstruction, Proficiency in Art, Phd Thesis Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, 2019
2014 - The effects of smart board on visual art education of children,
National Education Congress, Nigde University, Turkey,
2014 - Observation of behavior of children with Down syndrome in visual art education. International Art Symposium, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey,
2010 - The reviews of the teacher of children with disability about effects of visual arts education on children with down syndrome
2010 - 2. National Visual Arts Education Symposium, Çanakkale, Turkey,
2009 - The Influences Of The Education Of The Visual Arts Over The Down Syndrome Children (Diyarbakir Sample) Master Degree Thesis, Malatya,