Taner Paşamehmetoğlu blurs the lines between art and nature
When mixed-media artist Taner Paşamehmetoğlu is at work in his home studio outside of Elk Grove, it’s a scene of loosely organized chaos.
One moment he’s adding fine lines to a landscape, and the next he’s cutting slivers out of a Target grocery bag. At least four art pieces are in progress, and he’s unsure which, if any, will be shown in a gallery or sold. Well-recognized political figures stand on canvases next to pieces that blur the lines between art and science experiments.
One moment he’s adding fine lines to a landscape, and the next he’s cutting slivers out of a Target grocery bag. At least four art pieces are in progress, and he’s unsure which, if any, will be shown in a gallery or sold. Well-recognized political figures stand on canvases next to pieces that blur the lines between art and science experiments.
“I like to be in a space that’s not predictable,” Paşamehmetoğlu says.
During his day job, Paşamehmetoğlu works in marketing where he’s seen art often used as a means to sell more. His art practice is an escape from that, he says. As a self-taught artist that emerged out of the pandemic, his work has become a way for him to grapple with his own ideas around consumerism, American identity and the environment.
Paşamehmetoğlu’s entry into art was through photography. He fondly recalls childhood trips to his parent’s native Turkey, where he commandeered his father’s new DSLR camera. In college at the University of Utah, that grew into a focus in photojournalism and an early career in sports photography, capturing visuals for the major league soccer team Real Salt Lake.
Sustainability is a constant thread in his work, as well as a nod to his experience as a second-generation American. Both of Paşamehmetoğlu’s parents were born in Turkey and met in the United States as immigrants, as his father was pursuing a career in nuclear engineering.
The last five years have seen Paşamehmetoğlu produce shows for the Midtown Association’s Second Saturday programming and the Chico Art Center. In 2024, he was selected as a full-time artist in residence for the City of Sacramento, where he spent a year using art as a means to support the city’s sustainability programming.
“My practice really kind of centers around this reimagining of the American dream for myself,” Paşamehmetoğlu said. “One that isn’t measured in money or career accomplishments, like I used to think it had to be.”
Lately, his environmental focus has led Paşamehmetoğlu to experiment with using the elements themselves, where sunlight and rain have literally found their way into his pieces.
His piece “Three Little Birds,” began as a large canvas he repurposed from a thrift store. The canvas came with stock art of a few birds, which he covered up in heavy layers of acrylic, oil and spray paints that clotted together.
Then, he left the painting outside. The piece saw extreme heat days and stretches of heavy rainfall. After a full year, he checked on the results. Exposure to the elements saw a few sections of paint slough off in large chunks. It left behind streaks of threadbare canvas and revealed the gentle outlines of the birds that originally marked the canvas.
“I want to blur the line between nature and artist,” he says. “Nature is a kind of collaborator in that way.”
The piece is dotted with pixels, which have become Paşamehmetoğlu’s signature. In his other works, be it a riff on a grocery store or a flowing landscape, viewers can spot a small, single-colored square. The pixel is an homage to his photojournalism days as well as a greater message.
“It’s this idea that we’re all made of something smaller,” Paşamehmetoğlu says, “the idea of something that unifies us all.”
During his day job, Paşamehmetoğlu works in marketing where he’s seen art often used as a means to sell more. His art practice is an escape from that, he says. As a self-taught artist that emerged out of the pandemic, his work has become a way for him to grapple with his own ideas around consumerism, American identity and the environment.
Paşamehmetoğlu’s entry into art was through photography. He fondly recalls childhood trips to his parent’s native Turkey, where he commandeered his father’s new DSLR camera. In college at the University of Utah, that grew into a focus in photojournalism and an early career in sports photography, capturing visuals for the major league soccer team Real Salt Lake.
Sustainability is a constant thread in his work, as well as a nod to his experience as a second-generation American. Both of Paşamehmetoğlu’s parents were born in Turkey and met in the United States as immigrants, as his father was pursuing a career in nuclear engineering.
The last five years have seen Paşamehmetoğlu produce shows for the Midtown Association’s Second Saturday programming and the Chico Art Center. In 2024, he was selected as a full-time artist in residence for the City of Sacramento, where he spent a year using art as a means to support the city’s sustainability programming.
“My practice really kind of centers around this reimagining of the American dream for myself,” Paşamehmetoğlu said. “One that isn’t measured in money or career accomplishments, like I used to think it had to be.”
Lately, his environmental focus has led Paşamehmetoğlu to experiment with using the elements themselves, where sunlight and rain have literally found their way into his pieces.
His piece “Three Little Birds,” began as a large canvas he repurposed from a thrift store. The canvas came with stock art of a few birds, which he covered up in heavy layers of acrylic, oil and spray paints that clotted together.
Then, he left the painting outside. The piece saw extreme heat days and stretches of heavy rainfall. After a full year, he checked on the results. Exposure to the elements saw a few sections of paint slough off in large chunks. It left behind streaks of threadbare canvas and revealed the gentle outlines of the birds that originally marked the canvas.
“I want to blur the line between nature and artist,” he says. “Nature is a kind of collaborator in that way.”
The piece is dotted with pixels, which have become Paşamehmetoğlu’s signature. In his other works, be it a riff on a grocery store or a flowing landscape, viewers can spot a small, single-colored square. The pixel is an homage to his photojournalism days as well as a greater message.
“It’s this idea that we’re all made of something smaller,” Paşamehmetoğlu says, “the idea of something that unifies us all.”