Emre Özakat Turkish, b. 1997

Özakat is drawn to imagery that feels off, scenes that are mundane yet uncanny, particularly those circulating in the forgotten corners of the internet. The photographs he sources, amateur snapshots of goats indoors, already possess a disorienting quality. There's something inherently surreal about livestock occupying domestic, human-made spaces. These unexpected juxtapositions disrupt conventional expectations, evoking absurdity, displacement, or a subtle sense of unease.

By digitally distorting and stretching these images before translating them into oil paintings, Özakat amplifies that discomfort. The manipulation serves as both a formal and conceptual gesture, heightening the 'wrongness' of the scenarios while also referencing the warping effects of digital culture, where meaning is continually bent, repeated, and remixed.

The act of painting these warped images by hand introduces yet another layer of mediation. It’s a slow, deliberate process that contrasts with the ephemeral, disposable nature of the original online photographs. Through this transformation, Özakat explores how absurd or overlooked digital content can acquire new significance and resonance when rendered materially, becoming strange relics salvaged from the detritus of internet culture.