Meltem Elmas

I am a Turkish artist living and working in Ghent, Belgium. Over the past few years my lens-based art has been selected by several (inter)national photo competitions, and has been both solo and group exhibited in various Belgian art galleries.

Both technically and visually my recent work may best be described as ‘neo-pictorialist.’ I mainly work with self-made pinhole cameras and throw-away cameras, which I often manipulate with sellotape and sandpaper. This allows me to create in my photos an atmosphere similar to the effects of a soft focus lens. I also play occasionally with the ‘double exposure’ technique, using a negative film or dia-positive twice as a canvas. Through these particular uses of different cameras, I wish to both explore the many possibilities of analogue photography, and to emphasize the (un)reality of taking/making a photo.

Another key element in my photography is working with ‘lost and found images.’ I enjoy using them in new compositions, allowing new narrative associations to arise. Visually my work is emotive. My purpose is not to capture objective realities, but to both give form and evoke memories and feelings.

I obtained a BA in graphic design at Anadolu University, Turkey, in 2010. Having graduated top of my year, I was selected for the Erasmus program to study also one year of graphic design in KASK (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent). In 2013 I received a MA in Fine Art from LUCA School of Arts, Ghent.

Solo
December 2014, De Coöperatieve 40/50, Hasselt, Belgium
Curator Joannes Késenne, “First Bite”

June 2013: “Facetacular”, NEST, Gent, Belgium

November 2013: “Sisters of Pandora”, Gallery OMS PRADHAN, Brussels, Belgium

Group Exhibitions
July 2015, D.ART 2015 / ARTENOVA, Mechelen, Belgium
“Gentle Blues”

June 2015, Back Stay, Ghent, Belgium
“Go SHOOT IT”

June 2015, S & H De Buck Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
“80 Days of Summer”, Photo Festival

May 2015, Durmetuin, Temse, Belgium
“de Mythe in Mij” Curators Christian Wittebroodt, Freddy Huylenbroeck

April 2015, Festival L'Ère de Rien, Rezé, France
"Youdoo dolls", installation

April 2015, S & H De Buck Gallery Ghent, Belgium
“Gentle Blues”

November 2014, S & H De Buck Gallery Ghent, Belgium
“Diary of Remembrance”

February 2014: S & H De Buck Gallery Ghent, Belgium
“Hommage” Group Photo Exhibition with exhibition catalogue

March 2014: De Directeurswoning, Roeselare, Belgium
“De dweil als Alibi” with exhibition catalogue

June 2014, De Witte Moor, Gent, Belgium
“between MANIFESTO and SILENCE”

November 2013: S & H De Buck Gallery Ghent, Belgium
“Hand -- Messages”

June 2013: S & H De Buck Gallery Ghent, Belgium
“Encounter with a Memory VO...