Neslihan Öztürk
39 Years of Experience
In Painting
The Beginning
My artistic journey in painting started in the 1980s when I was a toddler. I was watching my family members very carefully while they were drawing something on paper. The lines that come through the pencil were taking my whole attention and in this way, I began to draw. One day, I draw a profile view of a lady portrait that attracted all the teachers in the kindergarten. My teachers even called the school manager and showed him my drawing. This was my first affirmation from the outer world that brings me to become an artist.
Bachelor of Arts
Education is like a bar of gold you earned with your passion. And also, education can not be thought without family support. I was always considered very talented in painting during my primary and high school education. My talent was confirmed many times through painting competitions organised by the city governorship. Because I won many prizes in competitions, I always wanted to study art after high school.
However, the first year after high school I could not pass the exam to get acceptance from the Faculty of Fine Arts. In the meanwhile, I got acceptance from the "Public Administration" department, and my family wanted me to study there. It is a common story, art is only accepted if you do art as a hobby. Art is not considered something important to study. So, I ended up as a student in the "Public Administration" department. I studied there for a half term but my dream was so different and I could not see any common point between the thing I study and my dream. After some emotional discussions with my family, they understood me and stand by my side. My family helped me to figure out how to work on passing the exam for the Faculty of Fine Arts.
After six months of working every day and night, I was successful this time and I passed the exam. In 2001, I started to study "painting" at Hacettepe University Faculty of Fine Arts and finished in 2005.
Apprenticeship
Working with Prof Dr Adnan Turani
In the last year of my Bachelor's, I met with Prof Dr Adnan Turani (1925 - 2016). He was a very well-known Turkish painter and art historian. He wrote many books about art, and also was one of the founders of the faculty where I studied. In the faculty, more or less all my professors were the students of Prof Turani. In 2005, by a chance, I visited Prof Turani in his atelier to show my paintings. After that, he allowed me to show my paintings to him from time to time. He saw the talent and passion for painting in me, and he wanted me to work with him as his apprentice in 2007. He was also in the will of growing up one last student in the last years of his life. We worked together in his atelier for 4,5 years. For the first six months of this time, I was only watching him while he was working on his paintings. He was always asking me if I was aware of the things he was doing on the painting. As a professor, he knew the way how to teach, and always asked me questions to check if I understood. He taught me the important techniques and principles of painting. I worked on my paintings in the direction of Prof Turani's principles and in 2010 my first solo exhibition was held in Nurol Art Gallery in Ankara.
Becoming An Academician
At the end of August 2011, I started to work as a Research Assistant in Selcuk University Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Painting. In 2013, I received my master's degree from Selcuk University. The name of my master's thesis is "Fabulous Depiction in Turkish Painting After 1950". Between 2013 - 2016, I worked at Hacettepe University Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Painting as a Research Assistant. In 2018, I received my doctorate degree from Hacettepe University. The name of my doctorate thesis is "Play As A Creative Activity In Painting". In 2022, I became Associate Professor.
© Neslihan Ozturk 2022