Hyperrealistic Art Depict's People's Inner World

Hyperrealistic Artworks Are an Intriguing Portal to Their Subjects Inner Worlds

“Nook,” oil on canvas, 2020

At first glance, it's hard to distinguish Mustafa Yüce‘s art from reality. The Turkish artist creates hyperrealistic paintings and pastel drawings of enigmatic figures in carefully crafted environments. Seemingly lost in their own thoughts, they are intended to reflect people's inner worlds.

“What I really want to emphasize is the narrative in my compositions,” Yüce explains to My Modern Met. “I embody the theme of reflecting reality, leaving the audience to question the reality of discrimination and acceptance.” Each piece is masterfully rendered to resemble three-dimensional places and people. Using his mediums of choice—oil paint on canvas and pastel on paper—he recreates the textures of hair, skin, cloth, and foliage. As a result, his art can be mistaken with a photograph.

Yüce's hyperrealistic style is paired with unexpected subject matter. Female figures inhabit varied environments indoors and outside, their expressions calm and lost in thought. In Nook, for instance, a woman naps inside the hole of a brick wall, her long dark hair cascading over the circular cement frame. Similarly, Birce features a female figure clad in an ornate black gown who stares directly at the viewer from her position on the carpeted floor. Although not quite a dream, these images capture relationships between people and nature, life and death, and inner and outer lives.

You can keep up with Yüce's latest art by following him on Facebook and Instagram.