Toprak Akkol is a 22-year-old artist from Turkey. Shaped by internet culture, he self-taught animation and visual media from an early age. Now studying Graphic Arts at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, he bridges design, video, and illustration to tell his stories.

"THE RITUAL."A man, uncertain whether his memories are real or mere illusions, seeks out someone from his past to uncover the truth. Together, they attempt a mysterious ritual to bring back the figure who lingers in their shared recollections—someone who may have never existed at all.-Fourth installment of the series mocking our high school project.

4

"The stage is set. But is there an audience?"A man takes his seat for an interview. The questions begin, but something feels off. Who is he really talking to?-It was originally shot for a short film competition that accepted 1-minute entries, but we missed the deadline, so we never got to submit it.

Sanrı

"THE EYE IN THE SKY."An eye trying to balance itself on a thin rope gets distracted by a shining light and falls into a vast realm of thoughts.

false illusion

"...BUT WHO'S THE DREAMER?"A man, unsure whether his memories are real, meets with someone from his past to verify these recalled memories—and to bring back the man who haunts them.-Third short in our series mocking our high school project.

III

"LOOK INTO MY EYES."A strange creature with big eyes and a crooked chin tells us to look into his eyes.

eyes

When things go wrong, these three friends have to call for help.

contrarium

As sleep takes hold, a strange light flickers in the darkness.

hypnagogia

"The moment before clarity."Before reality takes hold, fleeting images flicker and fade—strange, scattered, and unexplained.

rüya

"SEVGILER"It's a beautiful sunny day. It says "sevgiler" in the sky and there is a metal monkey head on the floor. Everything seems to be fine until it gets dark outside.

sevgiler

"WE LIVE INSIDE A DREAM."Three friends hanging around in the forest while they contemplate their existence.

deliramentum

A man walking down the park recalls a memory he doesn't remember he had.-First proper short of mine. Made as a sequel mocking a school project we made with friends in high school.

anamnesis

“Curiosity: Details” Eskişehir, 2025A postcard work on the theme of “curiosity” that I created within the scope of the workshops led by Umut Südüak (@tradegothic) at the 17th International Anadolu Calligraphy and Typography Event.

Born in 2004 in Izmir, Turkey, to a family of violinists, Toprak grew up surrounded by music and was largely raised by the internet, learning much of what he knows directly from the web. Childhood trips to the cinema with his father sparked an early fascination with film and visual storytelling. Driven by a desire to reverse-engineer the media he consumed, he taught himself to draw, edit, and animate—developing an informally honed skill set long before formal education began.This early fluency meant that throughout his school years, any visual or media-related project naturally fell onto his shoulders. From painting school murals to editing event videos, he often claimed to be exhausted by the workload, though he secretly thrived on it. It resulted in an absurd library of small, eccentric projects that will never see the light of a formal portfolio, but served as his true testing ground.The summer before high school marked a major turning point in how he viewed visual media, as exploring cinema and alternative art forms shifted his creative perspective and inspired him to forge his own distinct visual voice. After entering Dokuz Eylül University’s Faculty of Fine Arts with a top score, he realized the institution’s approach wasn't the right fit. Choosing vision over inertia, he restarted his academic path at Anadolu University’s Graphic Arts Department. Now based in Eskişehir, he works across multiple mediums to tell stories, explore ideas, and build visual worlds.