Every moment carries a precise emotional state. Seconds, minutes, hours pass, and with them, our feelings, as well as our perception and connection to the world around us. For Gizem Akdag, a multidimensional artist from Ankara, even digital visions shift: instantaneous sensory compendia, ephemeral yet symbolically charged compositions, inspired by the moment and its aesthetic reverberations.

An architect, brand designer, and versatile creative, Gizem reveals the foundational principles behind her AI project, unveiling to the world her approach to introspection and its translation into visual storytelling. A practice that inevitably draws from a deeply personal imagery—sports—so intrinsically connected to her homeland, Turkey.

How did you first become involved with the world of art?

“I’m from Turkey, I live in Ankara. Ankara is quieter compared to Istanbul, which sits at the crossroads of two continents, full of movement and contrast. Even though I didn’t grow up in Istanbul, I was still surrounded by Turkey’s incredibly rich culture. You grow up breathing it: it shapes your artistic vision almost unconsciously. My mother had a big influence on me. She’s not an artist, but she’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever known. When I was a child, she used to turn my breakfasts into little works of art, making faces out of food, giving them hair made of cheese and eyes made of olives. That kind of imagination left a mark on me. I was always drawing, painting, creating things. So after high school, I knew I wanted to do something connected to art, and I decided to study architecture.”

Why architecture? And how was that a gateway for your contemporary work?

“What I loved about architecture was how it fused art with math: imagination with logic. That duality really shaped the way I think. Even now, when I create my AI-based work, I always look for a foundation, a reason, a structure behind the image. Architecture taught me to give creativity a framework. After I graduated, I realized I didn’t actually want to practice architecture. I wanted to express myself more freely through art. So I started designing, doing graphic design for brands, and eventually became a brand designer. I ran my own studio for six years, creating logos and visual identities for companies. But I missed focusing purely on the creative side. So I left, worked as a creative lead for a few different companies, and then… about two years ago, I discovered AI. That changed everything.”

Your years as a brand designer must have shaped your eye a lot. How did that period influence the artist you are today? And what about your visual archive?

“It was fundamental. As a brand designer, you have to stay constantly updated, always watching what other studios and creators are doing. You’re training your eye every day. That visual discipline taught me not only how to create, but how to curate. You start noticing balance, light, color, proportion: all those subtle elements that make an image powerful. It became second nature to me. I definitely collect images, but the funny thing is, I never look at them again… I have endless folders, but my attention span is so short that I always get distracted by something new. I’ll open Pinterest to find one thing and end up lost in ten others. But that constant curiosity actually helps me: it keeps my mind active, and it allows me to create quickly and intuitively.”

Your IG bio says ‘Thinking out loud.’ How do this concept resonate in your approach to AI art?

“I don’t like to overthink what I create. I don’t plan or schedule posts: I just make something and share it instantly. My art reflects my emotions in real time. Maybe yesterday I felt joy, but today I feel something completely different. So I want my creations to live in the present. It’s definitely my way of thinking out loud, visually.”

How have sports shaped your connection to art? 

“My father took me to my first Galatasaray match when I was five or six. I still remember the atmosphere: the fire, the energy. It’s something you can’t really explain; it’s in your blood. To this day, I watch a lot of games with my dad and my brother. Football in Turkey isn’t just a sport: it’s part of our national identity. People love basketball and volleyball, sure, but football is on another level. I think that’s where my strongest emotional link with sports comes from. And I believe that same energy, those raw, unpredictable emotions, are what I try to channel into my art. Whether it’s the movement, the tension, or the beauty of a fleeting moment: it’s all connected.”

What drew you to use the sports imagery as inspiration for your compositions?

“Sports came naturally. I love exploring different aesthetics: and sports are incredibly visual. Tennis, for instance, has such clean elegance. Golf has this quiet grace. When I started experimenting with those worlds, I shared my work online, and people responded immediately. So I kept going. I think it really began around the time of the last Olympics, the Paris Games: that’s when I started exploring sports more deeply, especially swimmers and the movement of water.” 

You seamlessly merge sports figures with surreal landscapes: it feels almost architectural in its balance. What role do those dreamlike spaces play in your artistic vision?

“I think it comes from my love of exploring spaces: both large and small. My background in architecture trained me to think in scales. When you’re creating a logo, you focus on tiny details; when you’re designing a building, you think in vast spaces. My mind loves both: macro and micro. So when I explore sports through art, I play with that balance: the vastness of a stadium, the intimacy of a single ball in motion. That tension between the monumental and the minute fascinates me.”

Another recurring element in your work is cars and motorsport aesthetics. You often blend mechanical shapes with organic or natural settings. What draws you to that?

“I wouldn’t say I have a specific relationship with cars, but I deeply appreciate their beauty, especially classic cars. They’re not just machines; they’re a fusion of art and engineering. I love that balance between precision and emotion. Sometimes I include cars simply because I’m drawn to their form: the geometry, the sense of motion, the way light moves across the surface. I also love combining something mechanical and man-made with nature, the tension between organic and artificial elements fascinates me.”

There’s still a lot of discussion around AI in art. What’s your take?

“AI can definitely be used in harmful ways: people can copy or imitate other artists’ work, which I really dislike. I never use another artist’s name in my prompts or base my pieces directly on existing art. I always try to create from scratch. What’s fascinating now is that AI allows us to explore new styles, things that didn’t exist before. It opens infinite possibilities. Sometimes I feel like a pilot navigating through it: controlling something powerful but unpredictable. If you understand the parameters and push them the right way, you can create something magical. It’s not about replacing creativity, it’s about expanding what creativity can be.”

How does it feel: being in Ankara, yet knowing that your work is traveling the world, inspiring people across cultures and communities? 

“Honestly, it still feels surreal. I spend so much time in my own head that sometimes I forget how far my work has reached. There are moments when I doubt myself: I feel like I’m not doing enough. But then I see people responding emotionally, connecting with what I do, and that means everything. Social media has been a huge part of that journey: it reminds me that what I create can matter to others. But at the same time, I carry this strange kind of self-doubt, that keeps me grounded. It reminds me to stay humble, and to always support smaller artists the way others once supported me.”

Do you see your work evolving in the future?

“Right now, I’m in a very exploratory phase. I have two sides to my career: I work as a freelancer with brands, shaping their images and visual identities, and then I have my personal artistic practice. I honestly don’t know what’s coming next, but I’m sure it’ll surprise me. I’d love to collaborate with major artists or global brands. There are so many ideas in my head. For now, I’m just following my instincts and seeing where they take me. When I look back, I can see how every phase, even the difficult ones, helped me grow. Working in branding taught me discipline and precision. Architecture gave me structure and an understanding of balance. Every experience, every project, every client, every mistake, has shaped me. Nothing is wasted. It all becomes part of who you are, as an artist and as a human being. My future evolutions start from this belief.”