KEEP ME KEEP YOUR EYES KEEP ME - A0007 Print

Born in Izmir in 1980, the artist had her BA in Muğla University Education Faculty Department of Painting and her MA in Dokuz Eylül University Fine Arts Institute Department of Sculpture. Önen works in installation, performance, painting, ceramic and sculpture. In addition to her domestic painting and sculpture works, she also carried out works abroad. She has been involved in art projects in Finlandiya, Moskova, Almanya, İsveç, Hollanda, Amsterdam, İzlanda, Rusyaand many other countries. Central to Önen's artworks are concepts that frequently explore ideas of place, which she has been examining in classical, modern and contemporary appearances through painting, sculptures and installations. Önen, who won many awards with her works and participated in both solo and group exhibitions, states that unconscious human behaviors are the basis of her productions. She chooses to explore the intangible boundaries that we do not actually see but feel deeply, such as stereotyped roles, responsibilities and prejudices that people are exposed to due to their existence and living space in society, and the emotions behind them. The artist, defines her conceptual framework as questioning the nature, evolution, existence and civilization of human beings. What makes Önen's works unique in her field is that she brings together all the compositional tools of art with a unique unshakable harmony by forcing each of them indiscriminately. Working mostly mixed technique and different materials Önen often produces portrait, abstract and compositions of figures. Önen, still mentions that the figures in her works are herself and the scenes she handles are frames from her life or her own fictions. This way, she aims to draw the audience into that scene to be seen through the eyes of the artist. In works; using the freedom of shaping offered by sculpture as form, the artist conveys her emotions in a surreal and colourfull language. Nursel Önen lives and works in İzmir.