Sabriye Yıldız

Art Perspective;

“The only characteristic that distinguishes art is its ability to see the invisible beyond the visible.”
An artist must always be curious. Art begins with curiosity.

It is impossible for us to remember how we were born, or which family we were born into. We begin to understand our birth moment, the geography we are in, and our family as our consciousness develops. At that moment, everything falls into place.
After a certain time, the feelings, thoughts, and ideas in our minds are shaped according to the conditions we are in. These shapes eventually transform into the emotions that nourish us. That unknown, strange feeling inside me led me to art.
As long as I can remember, I have always searched for that strange mystery within me. My childhood was spent in the village. I was seven years old. I remember it very well. The houses in our village were made of earth and plastered with stone. They had no roofs. We called those roofless houses "dams."

I would lie on the dam and gaze at the sky and clouds for a long time. The blueness of the sky would lift me above the clouds. I would wonder what was behind the mountains I couldn't see above the clouds. With my childish mind, I used to dream of rising above the clouds and going to those unknown places. I would wonder where the flocks of crows, sparrows, and storks flew to. Birds, like me, flew to unknown lands out of curiosity.
I would look at the highest point of the mountains and find myself above the clouds. What did these unknown feelings mean, why did I think that way?
In the village, a "dam" meant the entire house, consisting of rooms, a tandoor oven, a stable, a pen, a porch, a courtyard, a chimney, and a large patio. We were happy children in our houses, built side-by-side with all our relatives, plastered with stone and yellow mud. Everything in the village was natural and unique. We lived freely.
The "tandoor room" was the name for what we would call a kitchen today. Of course, I didn't know that then. It was also where the bread was baked. All the women in the village baked bread in the tandoor. Early in the morning, the women would prepare everything the day before. My mother would take the flour from the granary, sift it through a flour sieve into a trough, and prepare it for the morning. She would wake up at six in the morning and begin kneading the flour she had prepared with water. The kneading wouldn't be a short process. After a long kneading session, it would be ready. A cross-shaped iron plate (hetircek) would be placed on the tandoor, and the day's meal, tea water, laundry water (in a cauldron), and bath water would be boiled. The tandoor would be roasted, the food cooked, and the water bubbling over the hot fire. Meanwhile, the dough would be checked occasionally. After making sure it had risen, the tandoor would be taken back.

Of course, as a child, I didn't understand how the tandoor was taken back. I was curious. How is the tandoor taken back? In the village, the women would say, "I took the tandoor back." I discovered the meaning of the word later through observation. It meant removing the food and water from on top and setting it aside. All these preparations would be complete. Next, clean cloths were spread on the ground to knead the dough, and my mother would begin the kneading process. (The word "kuntluma" literally means to shape the dough into small, round balls in the palm of the hand.) Once the kneading was complete, it was covered with a second cloth. With a bowl of water, a long rapata (a type of hand tool), and a short rapata (another type of hand tool), my mother would attach the bread to the tandoor oven. The prepared kneading balls were opened by hand, flattened onto the rapata in the palm of the hand, patiently tossed from side to side, and attached to the warm, crispy tandoor. The baked bread was removed with a tilting tool and placed back on a clean cloth spread on the ground. There were two methods of baking bread in this process. The long rapata was used for flatbread, and the short rapata for round bread. The aroma of the warm bread baking in the tandoor filled the entire village.

We used to wrap freshly baked bread from the tandoor in dill, green onions, and cottage cheese that we'd gathered from the garden, and eat it. We'd wait for that delicious taste until the next bread baking. That's how my interest in art began, with such curiosity. My mother's and father's hard work, patience, determination, and honesty served as examples for me. Perhaps you'll find this very interesting. Why did I explain my understanding of art this way?

Art requires patience. It also requires observation, research, curiosity, and interest. It should make the viewer think with a research-oriented spirit.

It should be able to see beyond what is visible. It's about feeling the reflection of emotions and thoughts. It's important to feel what people are thinking when they look at a painting.

Art isn't something easily understood or grasped. It has its own principles. We don't just pick up brushes and paints and create haphazardly. We work with feeling. The artist is the one who creates the art, who gives it soul. Otherwise, how could art exist without artists? Could there be such a thing as art? Of course not. I pay particular attention to the initial stages of my paintings. I sincerely value the originality of the paintings I create.
For me, art is a matter of discipline. I strive to produce original works through disciplined work. I am not easily satisfied. Some of my works take ten years to complete. Some take a year, two years, or six years.

I am an artist the moment I can create my own style, far from imitation.
When I pick up a brush, I like to paint not what I see, but what I want to see beyond my imagination.

I use mixed techniques on my canvas, incorporating acrylic, collage, and objects. My paintings are colorful and have a mysterious atmosphere. In twenty-five years, I have never given up on my original works. To create a special bond with the viewers who come to my exhibitions, I believe that the real mystery is hidden in their eyes as they look at my paintings more carefully. Every viewer is a source of curiosity, impression, discovery, and experience for me.
I cannot thank enough my teachers at Marmara University of Fine Arts, Department of Traditional Turkish Arts: Ali İsmail Türemen, Erol Eti, Mustafa Pilevneli, Çiler İnan, Çiçek Derman, İnci Birol, Gülnur Duran, Seher Aşıcı, Metin Erkan Kafkas, Güray Çırakman, Atilla Altan, Nazan Erkmen, Sadri Sayıoğulları, Güven Turan, Uğur Derman, Salih Balakbabalar, Alparslan Babaoğlu, Mühittin Serin, and Sibel Arık, who contributed to my progress in art.
I developed myself in the field of interdisciplinary art. I tried to produce original and free artistic works within my own rules. As in Ahmet Arif's poem, "My love has not abandoned me."
I could color my interest in painting, the difficulties and responsibilities of living in Anatolia, with my paintings.

In 2001, I had my second solo exhibition at the Sarıgazi Festival. The writer Yaşar Kemal came. I was excited when I heard he was coming. He visited my exhibition. When he asked who the artist of the paintings was, I said it was me. He was very surprised. "Did you paint these pictures?" he asked. "Yes," I said. He looked at me and said, "These aren't ordinary paintings. These are works that will take you into the future." I was very impressed at that moment. He asked me, "Which of these paintings do you think represents me?" I showed him my painting "Freedom." He asked, "Have you read my books?" I replied shyly, "No, I haven't yet." He said, "Your intuition is very strong, how did you guess?" From that day on, I had a short friendship with Yaşar Kemal. He gave me this advice: "I wrote and wrote constantly, and I became Yaşar Kemal. You should draw and draw constantly, and become Sabriye Yıldız." Now I continue to paint constantly, following in Yaşar Kemal's footsteps. For me, "Art is like bread baked in the embers of a tandoor oven."

It requires long effort, determination, patience, discipline, and sincerity. My goal for the future is to be on the list of world-renowned painters. In conclusion, “Art begins with love.
It is about existing as a contemporary painter representing my country, my family, the art world, and myself.”

Personal Exhibitions;
2000 Çemberlitaş Press and Publication Museum, Istanbul
2000 Sarıgazi Municipality Culture and Art Festival, street exhibition,
2001 DİSK Kemal Türkler Foundation, Şişli
2003 Uran Culture and Art Center, Üsküdar
2004 Regional Hospital, Sarıgazi
2004 Büyükada Culture and Art Center, Büyükada
2005 Dedeman Hotel, Beşiktaş
2006 Edremit, Tahtakuşlar Village Private Ethnography Gallery, Balıkesir
2006 Afrodit Holiday Village Altınoluk, Balıkesir
2006 Edremit Magnolia Art Gallery, Balıkesir. 2008 Haydarpaşa GATA Hospital, Istanbul
2008 Polat Renaissance Hotel, Istanbul
2010 Fabulist Shopping Mall, Sancaktepe, Istanbul
2016 Maltepe Art Gallery, Türkan Saylan Cultural Center, Istanbul
2016 Bindallı Art House, Taksim, Istanbul
2016 Bakırköy Çetin Emeç Art Gallery, Yunus Emre Cultural Center
2022 Thessaloniki Art Gallery, Greece
2022 Sancaktepe Municipality Art Foyer, Istanbul
Group Exhibitions:
2004 Galeri Dürer “29 October Republic Parade” (Group), Beyoğlu
2005 Nâzım Hikmet Cultural Center, Peace Association Group Painting Exhibition
2006 3rd İda Culture and Art Festival, Akçay, Balıkesir
2006 Nâzım Hikmet Cultural Center, Peace Association Group Painting Exhibition
2009 Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Acıbadem
2009 Mini Art Gallery, Nişantaşı
2009 Hasan Ali Yücel Cultural Center, Kartal
2009 Madison Hotel, Taksim
2013 Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts, Acıbadem
2016 Bindallı Art House, Taksim, Istanbul
2017 Nişart Art Gallery, Nişantaşı, Istanbul
2017 Galeri Abay Art Gallery, Nişantaşı, Istanbul
2018 Nişart Art Gallery, Nişantaşı, Istanbul
2018 İdil Art Gallery, Nişantaşı, Istanbul
2021 Erkan Yücel Cultural Center, Kadıköy, Istanbul
2021 Pinelo Art Gallery, Contemporary Art Fair
2024 Lina Grande Art Colorscape Painting Exhibition
2024 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Institute, İsmek Bağlarbaşı Art and Design Center, Üsküdar
2025 Art Contact Istanbul 6th International Contemporary Art Fair
2025 IAAF Istanbul Art Fair

Films:
“Frozen Man” Short Film Director: Güray Güngör
Art Director: Sabriye Yıldız
Magnificent Century
Dikmeni of Ankara
Runaway Brides
Panels/Conferences Attended:
“Contemporary Turkey and Our Girls Should Be Educated”
A panel we attended on June 12, 2012, with our Atatürk's beloved adopted daughter Ülkü Adatepe, where we had a conversation with the original music artist Fevzi Kurtuluş about girls' education and their involvement in fine arts.

Awards:
August 26, 2004 Çorlu Municipality Traditional Sunflower Painting Competition Honorable Mention Award, Çorlu
September 4, 2004 Üsküdar Municipality Traditional Kâtibim Festivals, Second Prize in the Maiden's Tower Painting Competition,
August 26, 2006 3rd İda Akçay Festival Honor Award, Balıkesir
September 1, 2005 Peace Association, Certificate of Appreciation, Istanbul
September 1, 2006 Peace Association, Certificate of Appreciation, Istanbul
Wooden Birds Village Private Ethnography Gallery certificate of appreciation, Balıkesir

Guest Artist Programs Accepted:

2000 Özlem Radio “Art and Women”
2002 Hayat TV “Bread and Roses” Topic: Women's World
2003 TRT Ankara “Painting Exhibition”
2004 İstanbul TV “Art and Life”
2005 Hayat TV “Bread and Roses” Topic: Breast Cancer
2008 Hayat TV “Bread and Roses” Art and Women
2010 Mehtap TV “Urban Transformation Painting Exhibition”
2016 Ulusal Kanal “Art Calendar” Topic: Art and Culture

2016 Kanal T TV Art “Mythological Legends”
2019 Can TV Yedi İklim Çarköşe “Mythological Legends and Current Events”
2021 Ulusal Kanal “Art Life” Where is Art Going in Turkey?

Events:
(Events organized for children)
April 23, 2010 Children's Festival “Little Ones "Hands Painting Exhibition", Sancaktepe
October 29, 2011 "Republic Painting Exhibition", Sancaktepe
November 24, 2012 "Teachers' Day Painting Exhibition", Sancaktepe
May 26, 2013 "Charcoal Drawing Exhibition", Sancaktepe
2010 "I Love Nature" painting exhibition by nine-year-old girl student Edanur Sezer, personal painting exhibition, Sancaktepe
2002 "Let's Protect Our Environment" photography exhibition, Sancaktepe
2003 "Let's Paint Our Walls" painting exhibition, shaping street walls with little hands, Sancaktepe
2008 "Design It Yourself, Make a Contribution to Nature" painting exhibition, Sancaktepe