SEÇİL EREL

Seçil Erel, a London based independent contemporary artist and entrepreneur was born, and raised in Istanbul. She completed her BFA at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Painting between 1999-2003. She completed her master's degree at MFA Institute of Social Science, Painting Department between 2004-2007. She focused on researching and continuing in her career as an artist after studying in Mimar Sinan Fine Art University Painting Department for her bachelor and master degrees and where she collaborated with individuals, institutions and corporates. She worked on printmaking at IMOGA in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

She has participated in numerous international group exhibitions, solo exhibitions, symposiums, workshops and artist residency programs. She moved to London from Istanbul with the belief that she would add more value to her life and work as a single mother. After she set up her artist studio she got a scholarship from the London Creative Network and the EU, and studied Artist Business Development.

She became a part of the international artist movement Artist Support Pledge in UK and founded the Turkish Language version to support them under ‘Sanatçı Destek Birliği’ during the Covid19 pandemic while she was designed and giving workshops called Book of transformations to support communities to make them aware their creative sides. While continuing her experiences as an independent female artist, inspired by experiences and challenges she faced in her own career, she co-founded the online contemporary art gallery harrisanderelart.com in 2020 with Anthony Harris, by developing a business form that was in line with today’s language. She has been involved in social responsibility projects by volunteering with children, people with disabilities, women, education and nature. Believing that creativity and giving value is an essence of life for her existence. As an artist give the audience the experience of multiple thinking and sensation in her large scale, modular work, where colour is dominant, and multi-layered dense textures overlap. Her paintings are seeking the spaces, which develop various perspectives and awareness, and are adapted to the artist’s possible motto of everything. She always interested in reframing her life and work through art and creativity.

Her creations are based on modular, layered, abstract paintings. She is known for her large-scale pieces but she also uses various sizes and techniques for all her different series. She crafts her paintings with harmony, metronomic repetition, movement, colour, light, contrast, and balance. In each piece, she aims to incorporate physical, mental, emotional and spiritual integrity. Inspired by mathematics, her paintings are based on modularity and perceived systematic structure. However, emotions, and feelings are dominant in the process. This started off with her personal experience of finding and transcending herself and her way of life, which she builds on change and various perspectives. Situations come through to being here and now, and concepts of time and space are formed by in her visual language. The compositions are open, multi-faceted, portable, dynamic and changeable. They are formed by a loop constructed by units on the surfaces. Therefore, her style of production consists of boundaries that protect their centre. In her works, process and the energy of the present moment are at the forefront and the most fundamental feature is to adapt to changing conditions. In this way, contrary to the result, it has the chance to renew itself in flowing time and changing space. Her work turns into the energy of the moment with the visual language she chooses.

www.secilerelart.com

Selected Exhibtions

 

A Separate Reality, 2019, Gallery Milli Reasurans, Istanbul

Artificial Nature, 2017, Galerie Schloss Neersen, Germany

Bird's Eye View, 2016, Gallery Siyah Beyaz, Ankara

As Is 2016, Gallery Merkur, Istanbul

Territory, 2014, Gallery Zilberman, Istanbul

The Initial Home & Leia, 2012, Alan Istanbul, Istanbul

Present Simple Tense, 2011, CDA Projects, Istanbul

Lonely Moment, 2009, T.C. ZİRAAT BANKASI A.Ş. Kultur Merkezi Mithatpasa Art Gallery, Ankara

Masters Degree Show, 2007, Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul

The End, 2002, Open Studio, Istanbul