Esra Eslen is an Istanbul-based illustrator, designer and artist who combines hand-drawing with digital media such as Procreate and Adobe Photoshop to build intricate, emotionally raw miniature worlds. In her own words, her narration focuses on “fear, chaotic elements, violence, to being a woman, boring daily routines, depression and melancholia”.
Eslen studied graphic design at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul. Her worlds draw on childhood memory and echo, combining beauty, power and violence in a recurring palette of intense reds. In Edward, a figure lying on a bed of flowers suggests a tragic love story, while don't look back pairs hand-drawing with digital media to the same effect. Her piece no one will find me was featured in Fakewhale Cross's Tezos Posse drop on Nifty Gateway in November 2022.
