The bright lights, the rush of crowds and constant buzz of activity. Many of us live in cities - it’s part of daily life for us, and according to the UN around two thirds of the population will be living in cities and urban centres by 2050.

But what does city living do to us, taking us away from nature and bombarding us with artificial light? This is what Dilara Koselioren’s work asks us to consider. Bringing together art, design and architecture these graphic art prints mirror her own journey from studying interior design and then naturally progressing to creating graphic art.

Dilara grew up in Istanbul and then moved across to London so city living has always been part of her life, and the works feel as if they are as much about her exploring how city life has affected her as it is about asking the viewer the same question.

She purposefully sources some of the images from New York as it’s both an archetypal city and one she hasn’t lived in, because if it was familiar to her then it would be loaded with her personal views of city life and she wants the work to have a universal appeal that speaks to all those who live or have lived in a major city.

The works are then ‘glitched’ so they stray from the original image, ranging from those where the New York skyline is semi-recognisable to others where they become an abstract blur of colours. She is taking something ordered and rigid and transforming it into an unsettling image, reflecting the emotional toil of urban life.

It feels relevant to contemporary life as people struggle to survive in major cities during a cost of living crisis but find themselves struggling to pull away given it’s where many jobs and cultural venues remain. However, humans have not evolved to live in such built environments and so close to so many others - and yet even though cities entail being surrounded by many people, the World Economic Forum estimates it increases loneliness by up to 38%.

Art can make us question the assumptions we’ve always held to be true, such as living in a city is a progression from agrarian life. Maybe it’s a case that our emotional and psychological wellbeing hasn’t caught up yet, or maybe we were never meant to live in them. Dilara Koselioren’s work doesn’t challenge those beliefs but asks us to reconsider them, pause and reflect on the life we’ve chosen.

More details may be found on her Instagram. This piece was commissioned by the artist.