Penang 2019 Painting

Artist Statement – Erna Ucar Erna Ucar was born in Ankara in 1979 and graduated from the Graphic Design Department of Hacettepe University in 2001. Her background in graphic design shapes her painting, where clear forms meet textured surfaces. After living in Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Malaysia, and Luxembourg, she became interested in how modern urban life creates both connection and isolation through shared routines. The Room Series grew from these observations. Ucar works with raw canvas, acrylic, graphite, and sand, often building texture in an impasto style. She combines bright, Fauvist-inspired colors with softer pastels, creating surfaces that reveal new details over time. Her process is slow and deliberate; she arranges figures with a slight depth ambiguity, producing works that feel like a mix of graphic posters and intimate paintings. Her compositions focus on emotional presence—joy, solitude, resilience, and distance appear together. What guides her practice is the search for shared human experiences. Each work reflects how people, despite cultural differences, move through similar emotional rhythms. Through controlled color (chromatic harmony) and tactile materials, Ucar turns everyday scenes into calm, focused observations of contemporary life.