ARTIST BIO
Elif Olmez was born in Turkey in 1988. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Anadolu University in Eskişehir, Turkey in 2013. She completed her master’s degree in Plastic Arts at Doğuş University in 2017. In 2025, she earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the New York Academy of Art.
She has exhibited her work extensively in Turkey, the United States, and abroad. Notable exhibitions include the New York Academy of Art’s "Deck the Walls" (2023–2025), IAFF at Neo Art Gallery, her 2022 solo exhibition "Carnival of the Animals" at Maji Art Gallery in Istanbul, and the group exhibition at Paper Works II in New York City. She has also participated in group shows at venues such as Carre d'Artistes Gallery and Luna Art Gallery.
She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and maintains an active studio practice. She is represented by various galleries in Istanbul and New York, and her works are held in several private collections.
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION
The works attempt to reveal the disturbing reflections of concepts such as hopelessness, depression, restlessness and rebellion on the human mind and body, based on the relationship between existential philosophy and the art of painting. The figures constructed in this direction psychologically examine the isolated, devalued and ignored human being. In the works, the space that provides integrity with the image of the figure in terms of color and texture is foregrounded with abstract-realistic images in the background, creating a simpler perception of space. While geometric forms and objects are included, the reflected space is depicted as plainly as possible. The symbolic function of color serves the dramatic atmosphere, and the figures that integrate with this atmosphere reflect their psychological states with distorted images.