Based in Istanbul, Yasemin Cengiz Çağatay (b. 1963) is a self-taught painter who studied Business at Bosphorus University and initially spent ten years working in finance management, serving as the CFO of Hewlett Packard Turkey before returning to her true passion for art. First introduced to paints at 4 years old by her art teacher mother who gifted her 100 art history books, and copying masters at 9 years old ,  she was commissioned to paint a 4 meters long Çanakkale victory commemoration painting- hung at the façade of GS Beyoğlu building- at 15 years old, when she also won the YKB art award. She won another national art first prize -THY award-  while studying at the historic Galatasaray Lycée. Resigning from HP at 34 years old, she lived in art centers, Paris,London and NY,  honing her skills through studies at the Sotheby’s Institute of  Art NY and London, and deep exploration of the world's great museums and galleries. Çağatay cultivated a signature style marked by an intuitive use of color and otherworldly compositions that seamlessly blend figuration with abstraction. Her paintings act as portals into alien worlds, dream landscapes, and new realities, employing a surrealist aesthetic and stream-of-consciousness storytelling to explore the unknown.

 

Infused with a dreamlike sensibility, her kaleidoscopic maximalist works incorporate sinuous forms and fantasy elements, and natural subjects such as birds, butterflies, and flowers, drawing inspiration from symbolists like Vrubel as well as contemporary artists like Glenn Brown and Raqib Shaw. Blending traditional painterly experimentation with the futuristic vistas and multi-focal depth, her de-localized imagery creates an unconventional viewing experience where many works can even be hung upside down to reveal a new perspective.

 

Her son carries the family art legacy further, as the third generation artist of the family, a recent graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts Film&TV department.

 

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ARTISTIC PROCESS

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