Zeynep Şen Dağdeviren

Who is Zeynep Şen Dağdeviren? (1952-Ankara)

She was born in Ankara in 1952, the third of four children. She was encouraged to pursue painting by her older brother, State Artist Ruşen Güneş, a violist, and painter Pertev Boyar. She completed Mimar Kemal primary and secondary school. She lost her father at the age of 16. She graduated from Ankara Girls’ High School and married two months later. When her daughter began studying at Saint Benoit French Middle and High School, she entered the workforce. She started working in the Human Resources department at Alcatel Teletaş Telecommunications. Her passion for art and painting remained unfulfilled. In 2001, she left her career to focus on painting. She finally found her path and took classes from Associate Professor Veli Sapaz from 2001 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2009 from the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts with Associate Professor Sedat Balkır.

The artist, who believes that art is a gateway to freedom, opening to a magical universe, reflects the remnants of his awakening consciousness in his works through abstract influences and the richness, tones, clarity, darkness, weight, and balance of colors. As an escape from a life bound by rules, she shapes his work freely, without adherence to any school of thought. She has chosen to follow a unique and uninhibited path in her work, without any prior planning. Painting unfolds spontaneously when placed in front of the easel. The creation of a work takes a long time. The artist chooses subjects from emotionally charged female figures and tranquil cities, and the sea holds a special significance in her work.

Thanks to Instagram, which she calls her great source of inspiration, she has engaged in dialogue with international artists, studied their art, made friends, and had the opportunity to meet new collectors. The positive feedback she receives from them has given her the joy and happiness that she is on the right path.

Living half the year in Bodrum and the other half in Istanbul with her husbant and three cats, and frequently enjoying scooter rides around Bodrum, the artist continues her landscape and figure works using oil painting and collage techniques on canvas, paper, and aluminum.