Artists

Miniature and illuminated manuscript artist Sema YEKELER YURTSEVEN got acquainted with the colors and soul of the classical art after starting to depict ottoman patterns, mythological stories and scripts of renowned calligraphers on the porcelain plates.

The artist, who moved to İstanbul by the end of 90s, came across with banners of Cafer Ağa Medresesi --a place famous for its works in miniature and illuminated manuscripts where she started her education in the field—and took her first class of illuminated manuscript. Therein; she found the opportunity to have a closer look at the archives and works of Professor Süheyl Unver, who is considered a prominent figure in this specific area of art. The Artist began performing her own artworks at that place, drawing her first characteristic works.

Following that, she received her certificate from the education department within Topkapı Palace which was launched with the initiative of the Culture and Tourism Ministry. After completing her two-year long education there, she took an exam and graduated from the program ranking first in her class. In 2012, she decided to continue her education academically in Traditional Turkish Handicrafts to get a master’s degree in the field of Illuminated Manuscript Main art Branch. She completed her thesis which was about investigating “Qur’an Manuscript written by Sheikh Hamdullah for Bayezıt the Second in terms of ornament, a topic which she chose out of her interest in manuscripts. She successfully completed her master degree in 2014.

While working on her thesis, she simultaneously completed her Turkish Parliament Yıldız Şale Miniature Education ranking again first in her class. She took part in projects both at home and abroad –like in İstanbul, Ankara, Algeria, Dubai—as participant and held three personal exhibitions in İstanbul.

The artist tries to reflect the importance and beauty of manuscripts to our present day. In addition to it, she offers her designs to the art-lovers on different grounds by taking into consideration the Turkish culture and patterns with its deep and varied interactions as well as modern age perspectives. She designs Turkish motifs with modern perspective by using varied techniques on different papers made by her or brought from different countries including Basel, Nepal and India.

The artist is currently exerting efforts to revive the manuscripts and regenerate the artworks in different designs with an up-to-date perception. The artist who tries to convey the viewers her dreams and ideas with free and characteristic motifs based on classical discipline and education, does not make any concessions in terms of colors, using gold and diverse backdrops.

A realistic approach coupled with a tremendous endeavor to convey all problems, emotions and thoughts, the artist could achieve reaching the viewers in the most efficient manner she could. And above all of these, the artist, who has three children, never forgets to be thankful to her brush which helped her reveal her inner world she could hardly conceal.

She is currently writing her PhD thesis at Fine Arts Faculty of Mimar Sinan University as well as participating in national and international exhibits.She participated in many fairs, festivals and exhibitions at home and abroad. She represented Turkey at the International Miniature and Illumination Festival held in Algeria in 2013. She opened three solo exhibitions with the titles 'Three Views in Purgatory' at Dolmabahçe Art Gallery in 2014, 'His' at Niş Art Gallery in 2015, and 'Koma' in 2019. She exhibited her works at the ArtAnkara Fair in 2016. In 2018, she delivered paintings to the mosque construction project, which was built with the support of original works of art in Cambridge Mosque. In August 2018, she participated in the Safavi Miniature Workshop at The Prince's School of Traditional Arts in London. She also decorated the cover of the book 'Travellers in Ottoman Lands: The Botanical Legacy Royal Botanic Garden' published in Edinburgh.


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