Özlem Kertiş

Özlem Kertiş was born in Istanbul in 1983. She graduated from Marmara University in 2003 with a degree in Painting/Teaching and a minor in Ceramics. She worked as an art and ceramics teacher for 12 years. In 2015, she received a "Certificate in Art Therapy Education" from the Art and Psychology Association in Istanbul. She currently teaches art therapy and visual arts classes to various age groups at her studio in Istanbul.

Kertiş has participated in numerous exhibitions both domestically and internationally. She is interested in psychology and explores the relationship between gender and the subconscious with spiritualism movements in her works. In her recent work, she has investigated the concepts of "Nature, Earth, Water" in Turkish mythology and Shamanism, creating a series of 180 watercolor pieces reflecting the instantaneous representation of bodily abstract spiritual structures. She has worked with various materials and produced the "Kelimeler İçimi Yokluyor" (Words Probe My Insides) series with ceramic sculptures. She continues to explore the use of different materials and integrates multimedia techniques into her works.

Özlem Kertiş lives and works in Karlstad, Sweden, and Istanbul, creating her art in her studios in Istanbul Moda and Karlstad, Sweden.