For me, painting is not just a representation of a human face or a recording of what I see before my eyes; it is a way to express feelings that sometimes cannot be put into words. In my portraits, I try to go beyond the appearance of the face and approach the more hidden layers of human existence; the silences, sorrows, loneliness and emotions that may not be seen in everyday life, but are present in the gaze, the lines of the face and even the choice of colors.
In this path, expressionist painting is of particular importance to me. Expressionism is an art in which the expression of the artist’s inner feeling and experience can overcome the accurate and realistic representation of the world. In this style, colors do not have to follow the laws of nature, and faces do not necessarily remain in their true form. Exaggerated lines, obvious brushstrokes, changes in proportions and unnatural colors can become tools for revealing an inner truth; A truth that may be hidden in a completely realistic image.
In my portraits, yellow holds a special place. I love it and use it often in my painted faces. For me, yellow is not simply a bright color or a symbol of joy and light; its meaning depends on the texture of the painting, the combination of colors, and the mood of the face. Yellow can, along with other colors, create a sense of anxiety, tension, fragility, or a kind of uneasy presence. Sometimes it is like a light shining from within the face; a light that is not necessarily soothing and may reveal something ambiguous and unspoken. What is important to me is the use of color as a means of conveying emotion, not simply recreating the natural color of the skin. For this reason, in my paintings, yellow may appear in places we do not expect it or be placed next to colors that are in sharp contrast with it. At such moments, color moves away from its descriptive role and becomes an independent element in the emotional expression of the work.
Artists such as Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, and Erich Heckel are important figures of Expressionism, each using color, line, and transformation of form to express human experience in a different way. In Edvard Munch’s work, anxiety and loneliness become a visual language that transcends apparent reality. Kirchner expresses the tensions of modern life with strong colors, dynamic lines, and transformed figures. Emil Nolde also gives his work emotional power with intense colors and powerful contrasts. Studying these artists is an opportunity for me to think more about the endless capacities of color and form to express human emotions. However, my goal is not to replicate the visual language of any of these artists. What is important to me is to find a personal language; a language that is formed by my lived experiences, my observation of the world, and my encounter with the human face. In this language, color, texture, and brushstrokes are as important as the face itself.
I am interested in faces that seem to be hiding something; faces whose emotions cannot be easily summed up in a single word. Perhaps there is sadness in them, perhaps fatigue or a long silence; but for me, more important than naming these emotions is creating a space that the viewer can approach with their own personal experience.
Ultimately, Expressionism for me is not just a historical style in painting, but a possibility to approach the inner human experience. A possibility in which the color yellow can go beyond a simple visual choice, lines can carry tension, and a portrait, without revealing all its secrets, invites the viewer to confront their own emotions.