"Gate of holes", Alcohol ink on yupo paper Painting

Born in Turkey in 1981, Elif holds a master’s degree in Marketing and spent over a decade working as a marketing researcher for international companies. While her professional background is rooted in the corporate world, her true passion has always been art. Motherhood became a turning point in her life, encouraging her to fully embrace her artistic journey. She now works primarily with painting and ceramic sculpture, exploring the boundaries between form, texture, and emotion. Elif’s work is deeply inspired by the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of Yūgen—the subtle and profound beauty that is felt rather than seen. This concept informs her abstract style, where she combines different materials and layered textures to evoke introspection and a sense of quiet wonder. Each piece invites the viewer to pause, reflect, and connect with the unseen dimensions of emotion and experience. Through abstraction, Elif finds freedom: in color, in imperfection, and in silence. Her work is not about what is immediately visible but about what lingers after the gaze has moved on.