Zeynep Merve Çiçek (born in Ankara in 1987) is a Turkish painter and lecturer. She trained at the Kırıkkale Fine Arts High School (2001–2005) and graduated in Art Education from Gazi Üniversitesi (2005 –2009), later completing a master’s degree in painting (2009–2012) and, since 2017, pursuing a “Sanatta Yeterlik” doctoral degree at Hacettepe Üniversitesi.
Her research explores the relationship between seeing and hiding, between visibility and privacy, through “visual diaries” created with acrylic, fabric, and text, reflecting on the tensions of everyday existence. She has held five solo exhibitions, including Sen Görünmek İstersin, O Saklar… (Belm’art Space, Istanbul, 2024), and has participated in numerous group projects and residencies.
Her work has been discussed in contexts such as YAG/Garage International Turkey in collaboration with the Elgiz Museum in Istanbul. She is also the author of academic publications, including an article derived from her thesis on “belonging” and the sense of non-belonging in site-specific spaces, published in 2021.
A member of Galeri Soyut (Ankara), she runs her own studio, offering training in the visual arts. Her poetics, rich in empathy and pragmatism, aim to build bridges between past, present, and future, making visible emotions and narratives that would otherwise remain unspoken.
