ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

I was born September 12^th 1975 in İstanbul, Turkey. My ancestors migrated from Crete, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean after World War 1 to Izmir (Smyrna). Since my family lived in Crete for almost 400 years, traces of love for the sea and island culture is very dominant in my family. The seascape of Karaburun (that is our family getaway) has been a major source of inspiration in my art. With the cleanest waters in the area around Izmir, Karaburun is a small quiet seaside town. From Ottoman times up until 1930’s, Karaburun was a large seaport with as many as 80 vessels calling daily at the harbor to transport wine, grapes, olives, and olive oil prized throughout Turkey and the Mediterranean. Today, it is the most protected area in the Aegean Region, and part of the peninsula has been designated a Nature and Archaeological Reserve.