Journey To The Shore Painting

I am Semiha Karakuş. I am a painter who works with light, silence, and the metaphorical language of nature. In my works, I explore the tension between chaos and enlightenment, existence and rebirth, using light as a bridge between emotion and consciousness. My education at the Painting Department of the Buca Faculty of Education at Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir and the Painting Department of Aydın Doğan Fine Arts High School provided me with a disciplined foundation. However, the most important turning point in my journey as a painter was the process of developing my own technique and philosophy. In my art, I question the existential tension experienced by contemporary individuals around the themes of identity, migration, and alienation. I address these issues not directly, but through metaphysical symbols. Spiral-moving birds, empty boats, mirrors, and solitary figures become metaphors that invite the viewer on a journey that is both familiar and profoundly internal. Fog represents loss, uncertainty, and transition for me; while the beams of light emerging from this chaos symbolize hope, awareness, and spiritual elevation. This contrast reveals the tension between individual loneliness and collective belonging, offering the viewer a moment of enlightenment shining in their own darkness.