ELİF ÖZEN
 

Elif Özen (b. 1987, İzmir) graduated from Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Painting Department in 2015 and completed her MA in the same department in 2019. Her first solo exhibition “Monochrome” took place in 2017 at Untitled Gallery, Oregon-USA. Her second solo exhibition “The Shape of the Soul” was held in 2024 at Kairos Gallery. She has participated in various group exhibitions organized by Mamut Art Project, Akbank Sanat, Pilevneli, Siemens Art, Coca Project Italy, Rollo Scihim London–Tel Aviv, and Mixer. The artist took part in CI Bloom, CI Art Fair, and ArtWeeks in 2023; in 2024, she participated in Artshow and Artweeks with KAIROS Gallery. Also in 2024, she was included in the exhibition “New Lands” at Arkas Sanat Alaçatı, which brought together nearly 150 artists. In 2025, she joined Artweeks Solo Edition. She currently lives and continues her practice in İzmir.

In her paintings, the artist reflects her long-standing attempt to grapple with a contemporary world completely saturated with images. These images embody the paradoxical condition of being both oppressive and irresistible, simultaneously enchanting and anxiety-inducing. They present an almost ghostly, weightless presence, blurring past, present, and future, and ultimately unsettling our very notions of what constitutes reality.