Portrait made of books highlights zero-waste art

ESKİŞEHİR

Turkish artist Seda Çetinsoylu has created a striking 9-square-meter wall portrait using pages from unused books brought from the southeastern province of Hatay, which was devastated by the Feb. 6, 2023, earthquakes.

Working in her studio in the Odunpazarı district of Eskişehir, Çetinsoylu repurposed hundreds of damaged and discarded books with a zero-waste philosophy. The resulting piece, depicting a long-haired woman’s face, spans 3 meters in height and 3 meters in width and now decorates the interior wall of a local business.

Çetinsoylu’s passion for art began during her primary school years in Istanbul, guided by her family and teachers. She studied painting at Anadolu University’s Faculty of Fine Arts and also attended Accademia di Belle Arti in Palermo, Italy, as part of the Erasmus Program. After completing her undergraduate degree, she earned a master’s from the Faculty of Art and Design at Eskişehir Osmangazi University and opened her own studio in 2022.

The 36-year-old artist works across various disciplines, including ceramics, sculpture, graphic design and animation. The book-page portrait was commissioned by a Hatay-based business owner who relocated to Eskişehir after the quakes.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, she said: “I received the project just a week before the venue’s opening and worked day and night to complete it. The books came from the earthquake zone. I pressed and carefully cut them to make them suitable for the work.”

Çetinsoylu, who also works as an art consultant, said the portrait aligns with the business's interior design and reflects her commitment to sustainable art practices.

“The feedback has been incredibly rewarding,” she said. “This kind of work was not made before in Eskişehir, and it is still rare in Türkiye. While there are similar examples abroad, this was a first for me and very exciting.”

In addition to her own creations, Çetinsoylu teaches art to gifted children aged 4 to 12 and continues to focus on recycling in her projects, frequently reusing old canvases and paper waste.