"Untitled Portrait IX" Painting

Ayşe Kapusuz is a Turkish figurative painter and street artist, and a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. She grew up and currently, live and work within the chaotic, distorted rhythm of Istanbul, a city that serves as a constant, high-decibel backdrop to her practice. She is a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, department of painting. And during her undergraduate studies, she is specialized in traditional gravure and engraving techniques by selecting the university’s Gravure Printmaking Studio. After her graduation, she started to work as a volunteer Art Teacher for children and adults with mentally disabilities at ZİBEÇ- Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital, in Istanbul. Alongside her studio paintings, starting with 2010 she maintained her identity as a street artist, using a thick marker directly on the damaged walls of the city, preserving her visceral connection with the city’s frantic, exhausting, yet still breathing texture. She regularly enriched her practice through international cultural travels, visiting leading museums and galleries in Europe and other countries to expand her artistic references in the mean time. In 2015, she transitioned from the urban density of Istanbul to the serene environment of Gümüşlük/Bodrum, where she lived in a village for six years. This period of relocation became a profound exploration of community and social engagement. During this time, she dedicated 4 years to the Peksimet Village Children's library(later called Pekder), serving as a volunteer art instructor for underprivileged local children. Her commitment culminated when she conceived, organized, managed and hosted a comprehensive charity art auction. This initiative was specifically designed to provide essential art supplies, educational resources, and access to cultural events for children facing socio-economic disadvantages. In 2020, during her stay in the mountain village of Karakaya(Gümüşlük), coincided with the global pandemic, a period defined by the stark contrast between the enforced isolation of the world and the untouched, raw beauty of her immediate surroundings. During this time, she expanded her practice to capture the essence of the natural environment, integrating the textures of nature into her conceptual exploration of the 'pure self’. Upon returning to Istanbul, her practice entered a new chapter of emotional and conceptual depth.