Sergen Aktaş

I was born on the 16th of March 1996 in Istanbul, Türkiye to an Alevi, and Kurdish family. My childhood was mostly hyperactive and full of crazy stories. I had a fairly easy childhood. My teenage years were more difficult as I started to discover my place in the world and I grew more distant from people. Then we got a PC when I was around 14. As I discovered computer games , the internet and a world I could reach easily where I could learn anything, I learned how to speak English. This changed my entire life as I was a proficient English speaker at the age of 16. I chose English Department in Highschool and then Majored English language and literature at Istanbul University where I learned a much deeper understanding of human emotions, psychology, art, and philosophy.

In January of 2022 during a tattoo session (a Princess Mononoke tattoo) with Juicy Error (Esrin Aşkar Usta) she mentioned that they were looking for an apprentice and if I knew anyone for this job. I thought for a second and offered myself for the position. Quit my engineering job the next day and started apprenticing at Tattoom Art Gallery the same week. After a couple of months, I purchased my tattoo machine second-hand from Derya Yılmaz. I made my first tattoo on myself and it all started there.

After graduating I became an English teacher and a project manager for one and a half years until covid-19 pandemic when the schools were closed. This made me reconsider everything about my life and my idea of existence. I started painting this period and started to discover new aspects of myself. Then I started working as a PCB motherboard engineer for a Chinese phone company for a year. This was the last job where I found myself deprived of a soul. I decided that I wanted to find something to liberate myself from the capitalist prison.

Currently I work at my home studio, a personal oasis for creativity that is familiar and connected to my artistic vision. Here, I can express my artworks and experiment with different mediums without the distractions of traditional studios. I take pride in maintaining a clean, organized setup, which allows me to focus on my creative process and fosters an atmosphere that encourages inspiration while supporting my physical and mental well-being.