JOURNAL - Özlem Yeni

Accepted, But Not Yet Welcomed | Art, Migration and Belonging

Art, migration, and belonging have become deeply connected in my practice, shaped by my own journey across countries and by experiences I share with many other migrant artists.

Accepted, But Not Yet Welcomed | Art, Migration and Belonging is a reflection on what it means to become visible again, to be accepted, and eventually to belong as a migrant artist; drawn from my own journey and the experiences I share with many other artists living and working across borders.

Finding Home Through Creativity: My NetExpat Interview on Relocation, Memory, and Belonging

This NetExpat Interview gave me the chance to reflect on relocation, creativity, memory, belonging, and the quiet process of finding home again.

When we relocated to the USA in 2023, the NetExpat Community was introduced to us as part of the relocation support offered through Rio Tinto.

At the time, I was still trying to understand what it really meant to start again in a new country. Moving is never only about changing an address. It is also about learning new rhythms, finding your place in unfamiliar streets, carrying what you left behind, and slowly building a new sense of belonging.

FRAGILE Featured in İstanbul Sanat

My poetry book FRAGILE, published by Banliyö Kitap, has been featured in İstanbul Sanat.

The article introduces FRAGILE as a book that brings together poetry and drawing within the same narrative world, shaped by themes of migration, belonging, loneliness, vulnerability, and rebirth.Read More

Fragile Poetry Book and Welcome Home

On poetry, migration, belonging, and the joy of seeing dreams take form

My Fragile poetry book has now been published, and for a while, I could not write for my blog. Not because there was nothing to say, but because I was living inside the very things I would one day want to write about.

The past weeks have been full. I have been preparing for the launch event of Welcome Home Artists Platform, working on the piece I will present there, and at the same time, moving through the final steps of seeing my first poetry book, FRAGILE, come into the world.Read More

Who Are We? Who Were We? Who Will We Be? Under Construction

There are moments in life when change is not an event, but a quiet unraveling.

When I left academia and moved across the world with my husband, I believed I was stepping into a new chapter. What I didn’t realize was that I was also stepping into a profound transformation, one that would challenge not only where I lived, but who I was.

Migration, even when chosen, is not something you can fully prepare for. The logistics are manageable. The emotional landscape is not.Read More

Rooted in Life — Lessons from the Desert’s Organ Pipe Cactus

When I first moved to Arizona, the vast desert landscape felt both foreign and strangely familiar. Among the rocky hills, open skies, and endless horizons, one presence quietly began to capture my attention: the cacti. Day after day, they stood still, silent yet expressive, proud yet humble, guardians of a land shaped by extremes.

Into the Wood: A Personal Journey Between Micro and Macro Cosmos

Rediscovering the Unseen Through Art

“Into the Wood” is one of those pieces that grew with me.

Painted in 2019, this 76×61 cm work (acrylic, ink, and oil stick on canvas) came to life after a transformative experience in the micro and macro cosmos’ mystery, Riversleigh World Heritage Area—Australia’s most iconic fossil site. I created this piece for the Riversleigh Group Exhibition held at Mount Isa Regional Art Gallery, alongside local artists Rowena Paine-Murphy and Michele Savoye. Yet for me, it was more than an artwork—it was a meditation on time, life, and what lies beneath.

The New Avant-Garde? Revolutionary Approaches in Art from Futurism to Artificial Intelligence

The New Avant-Garde? From Futurism to Artificial Intelligence in Art*

Are we on the brink of a new artistic revolution? This article explores how the radical spirit of Futurism — with its embrace of speed, machines, and movement — finds a contemporary echo in today’s AI-driven artistic practices. Through examples from stage design to visual arts, including Refik Anadol, Mario Klingemann, and Sofia Crespo, we reflect on whether artificial intelligence is not just a tool, but a new creative partner. Is a new avant-garde emerging in the age of code?

A Journey Remembered, A Memory Planted

Our European journey, which began in May and stretched into early June, was far more than a physical passage—it was an emotional, mental, and spiritual transition into a new dimension.

Trusting the Unknown

Part 8: Trusting the Unknown

I follow where my hands move,
where my intuition whispers.
Not everything needs a map.
Some paths reveal themselves only as we walk.

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