Gülay İnce Artist

About

Gülay İnce was born in Pazar, Rize in 1957. After graduating from Marmara University, Atatürk Faculty of Education, Department of Painting-Art Education, she completed her master's degree in Painting Education at Marmara University's Institute of Social Sciences. With her thesis titled “Süleyman Seyyid; A Pioneer of Still Life in Turkish Painting,” she made her academic research on Turkish painting art an integral part of her creative practice.

Serving as a lecturer at Sakarya University for approximately a quarter of a century, İnce taught in many fields such as Basic Art Education, Drawing, Painting, Perspective, Photography, Etching, Serigraphy, Original Printmaking, and Turkish Painting Art. The artist, who did not limit her art education approach to merely transferring technical knowledge, made significant contributions to Sakarya's art scene for many years with the students she trained and the workshops she conducted.

The artist, who primarily utilizes oil painting, serigraphy, and original printmaking techniques in her painting works, has developed a unique language of expression with the textural richness, relief effect, and strong compositional structure she creates on the surface. In her works, which reinterpret traditional cultural elements with a contemporary perspective, her monochromatic color perception, layered surfaces, and strong plastic composition are noteworthy. In her paintings, thought holds a decisive place as much as form, and expression as much as technique.

Gülay İnce, who does not limit her artistic production to canvas alone, has also realized installation works and original print projects in different periods; she has brought to the forefront the thought-provoking and transformative aspect of art, especially in her works focused on social memory and lived experiences. Her installation works titled “FAYDA” (BENEFIT), realized after the 1999 Marmara Earthquake, are among the important examples of the relationship between art and social events.

In addition to her painting works, the artist is also closely interested in nature photography, transforming her observational power into a different narrative language through photography. For her, photography is more than just documenting nature; it is an observational practice that allows for a careful reading of light, time, and space. She has won awards in national competitions and participated in numerous exhibitions and photography events in this field.

İnce, who has brought her works to a wide audience through her solo exhibitions held at home and abroad, international workshops, competitive exhibitions, and over a hundred group exhibitions, has her works in public institutions and private collections. The artist, who continues to produce in different disciplines such as painting, original printmaking, photography, and installation throughout her artistic career, sees her artistic production and her researcher identity as two mutually enriching fields.

With her long-standing artistic accumulation, academic experience, the generations she has trained, and her interdisciplinary production approach, Gülay İnce's contribution to art is valuable, and she is a prolific personality who shares her knowledge and experience.

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