Seçil Erel’s artistic journey began in 1996, when an epiphany during her high school years opened a new direction in her life and led her towards art. She held her first solo exhibition in 2001. The following year, in 2002, she participated in a group exhibition with İş Bankası. Following the exhibition, one of her works entered the İş Bankası collection, marking an important milestone at the beginning of her professional career.

Erel studied Painting at Mimar Sinan University, completing both her undergraduate degree and masters degree. Over 25 years of professional practice, she has presented solo and group exhibitions in Turkey and internationally, participated in artist residencies, workshops and art fairs, and collaborated with institutions, curators, collectors and art professionals. Based in London since 2017 and also a British citizen, she has continued to maintain her artistic connection with Istanbul while developing exhibitions, projects and professional relationships in the UK. In 2021, she was selected for the 253rd Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, an important milestone in her professional journey in the UK.

For Seçil Erel, abstraction is not simply a formal field of investigation but a way of perceiving the world and thinking through existence. Time and space are fundamental to her practice, while colour, light, layers and texture become essential elements through which memory, experience, movement and states of being are explored. Belonging, identity and existential questions have been recurring concerns within her work. Rather than directly representing what she sees and experiences, Erel transforms them through the language of painting itself.

From early works such as Sistem (System), Geçtiğim Yerler (Places I Have Been) and Kuş Bakışı (Bird’s Eye View), rooted in geometric abstraction, through Ayrı Bir Gerçeklik (A Separate Reality) and into works developed during her UK period, including Evrensel Fragmanlar (Universal Fragments), Olma Hali (Being) and Blossom, her practice reveals an evolving relationship between experience and visual language. These later works expand her thinking around space, belonging, shifting perspectives and existence through a more open, layered and atmospheric approach. The development is not simply formal; it reflects a broader transformation in the way experience is perceived and translated into painting.

When reflecting on the relationship between past and present, one of the strongest continuities Seçil Erel recognises is the persistence of her curiosity, excitement and desire to make. After 25 years, she still wants to create new paintings. For her, this continuing impulse is one of the clearest signs that her relationship with painting remains alive.

Her second masters degree at the Royal College of Art marks a new stage within this continuity. Inspired in part by Anthony Gormley and his lifelong commitment to learning and research, Erel sees this period as an opportunity to root herself more deeply in her practice, develop her visual language, renew her approach and engage with new ideas. Education does not replace or pause her professional practice; it becomes an additional space for research, development and expansion within it.

The Istanbul and London studios will remain fully active throughout this period. New paintings, exhibitions, projects, sales and international collaborations will continue from these two studio bases. While Seçil Erel remains at the centre of the creative and artistic direction, studio coordinator Leyla Spencer will support the continuity of the operational side of the practice, strengthening the professional structure that allows the work to continue seamlessly between the two cities.

This two-studio structure allows Seçil Erel to maintain her existing visibility in Turkey and internationally while creating new opportunities for collaborations, exhibitions, collector relationships and projects. ArtCloud will also provide a new digital point of access to her current works and inventory.

Today, Seçil Erel continues to work internationally as a painter from two studio bases in Istanbul and London. Living in the UK and also a British citizen, she maintains her deep connection with Istanbul while London has become a permanent part of her life and practice.

This new chapter also carries Seçil Erel’s gratitude to everyone who has been part of her journey. Framers, art handlers and transporters, curators, institutions, collectors, art professionals, collaborators, friends and colleagues have all contributed to the life of her work over the past 25 years. Some relationships have continued over time, while others have naturally taken different paths. Each has had its own place in the journey and has left its own trace.

Seçil Erel’s new chapter brings education and professional practice into dialogue, while production, visibility, exhibitions, sales and international collaborations continue without interruption from her two studio bases in Istanbul and London, reaching across the world.