Tugce Sonmez Arel
What’s your name and where are you from/based?
My full name is Tugce Sonmez Arel, though for the last 35 years, everyone has called me Tutu. I’m Turkish, currently based in London.
Can you describe your practice in a few words?
Intuitive, abstract, mostly sculptural—but multi-disciplinary. My work delves into existential questions like the subconscious, while weaving in threads of cultural identity, memory, and broader concerns like climate and collective experience.
Where did your relationship with clay, photography, and found objects begin—and how did those mediums find each other in your practice?
Photography came through my father’s side of the family. As early as five years old, my sister and I would create little stage sets and shoot theme-based sequences. Later on, through experiments with film photography at university, it naturally became part of my creative process.
Clay came into my life in 2002, when I started learning at an artist’s studio. I was going through my first heartbreak, and making—this new relationship with material—healed me. I continued there until the end of high school before leaving to study abroad. In university, I circled back to sculpture, and when I moved to London in 2018, it began to take up central space in my practice.
Found objects entered from a completely different door. I’ve always been drawn to what others discard and find myself quite odd about it. Only later did I realize this impulse was not separate from my practice—it was a part of it.
How do creating objects help you access or express memory?
In the most direct and honest way. My Alpha and Beta series especially work around this idea of expressing stuck emotions sourced from memory—a kind of release through form. Right now, I’m working on a new body of work that taps into my early memories—those formative moments in the ’90s that shaped my understanding of aesthetics, value, and belonging.
Are there specific rituals, stories, or images from your upbringing that continue to inform your work?
Yes, many. One is me collecting sea glass—it’s become a quiet ritual, something between meditation and play. I love being by the sea but can’t lie still, so I walk along the shore, eyes scanning the shallow waters. If my eye catches a piece of colored glass, I reach down to collect it. If it comes with me, it’s mine; if not, it belongs to the sea. A silent agreement between me and nature. Some of these pieces have found their way into works like Alpha IV.
What recurring shapes or symbols appear in your work, and what might they mean to you?
This one is hard for me because my work is abstract—but if I had to name one, I’d say lines. Lines feel honest. They suggest paths, connections, separations—sometimes delicate, sometimes bold.
Have you ever surprised yourself with what emerged in a finished piece?
Yes—almost always. My process is largely intuitive, so there are many moments when I step back from a finished piece and think, I didn’t know this was living inside me. The act of creating feels like entering a flow state, almost trance-like. When the work emerges, it often reveals something I wasn’t consciously aware of.
Which piece/s do you feel best captures the fragility of being that you often explore?
I’d say all of my work—from Vivarium to Alaturka—holds that fragility of being.
Which piece began as a personal memory and transformed into something more universal?
Singularity. It began as a personal observation—something close, intimate—but as the work evolved, it became a broader narrative, a kind of collective document of photography series.
What part of yourself do you think lives most vividly in your work?
My present self. I believe we wake up as new versions of ourselves every day, and my work evolves alongside that unfolding. It can shift completely from one day to the next—always reflecting who I am in the moment of making. I would also say fragmentation—the sense of being, acting, and exploring more than one thing at once
What have you unlearned through your practice?
Patience, acceptance, letting go.
Where can people find you?
I’m currently working on a show—details to be announced soon.
You can find me online here:
Instagram: tutu___________________
Website: https://www.tututugcesonmez.com
