About
Özlem Nurver
Artist Bio
I’m a artist and designer based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I was born in Ankara, Türkiye, and studied Graphic Design at Hacettepe University. Before shifting my focus towards my own artistic practice, I worked for more than twenty years in graphic design, illustration and digital design.
After moving to the Netherlands in 2022, painting became an increasingly central part of my work. This transition also brought questions of identity, belonging and cultural memory into my artistic practice.
Working primarily with painting and mixed media, I move between figurative and abstract approaches. Rather than pursuing realism, I use colour, texture, gesture and the human figure as ways of expressing emotional states and experiences that are often difficult to put into words.
Today, I live and work in Eindhoven, where I continue my independent art practice and run my studio, offering art classes and creative workshops alongside my own work.
Artist Statement
My work explores identity, belonging, memory and the emotional experience of living between places.
Migration is not only a physical movement from one country to another. We carry memories, cultural references, relationships and ways of seeing with us. Some remain familiar, while others change, fade or acquire new meanings. I am interested in this space between what we leave behind and what we gradually begin to call home.
The human figure, particularly the face, often appears in my work as a carrier of emotion rather than as a portrait of a specific person. At other times, I move towards abstraction, allowing colour, texture and gesture to take the place of recognizable forms. I am interested in the tension between these two approaches and in what can emerge when an image is not completely explained.
My process is intuitive and layered. I often allow a painting to change direction as I work, responding to what happens on the surface rather than following a predetermined image. Traces, imperfections and unexpected marks become part of the work.
Through painting, I try to give form to experiences that are difficult to define precisely: distance and attachment, familiarity and otherness, loss and renewal, and the ongoing process of finding one's place.
Selected Exhibitions
2026
- Between Places – Contemporary Turkish Artists in Eindhoven — Galerie Eindhoven, NLÂ
- Detachment & Attachment — The CreActive Hub, NL
2025
- Solo Exhibition — Bibliotheek Best, Best, NL
2024
- Finding Myself — Weeffabriek Geldrop, Geldrop, NL
Education & Background
Graphic Design: Hacettepe University, Faculty of Fine Arts — Ankara, Türkiye
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Before focusing on my independent art practice, I worked for more than twenty years across graphic design, illustration and digital design.