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Simay Kislaoglu

@simay_kislaoglu

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Contemporary Portrait Artist

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Queen Over Knight
100x150 cm

Power isn’t always where you expect it.
The knight rises. The queen rules.
Strategy over instinct.
Mind over motion.
In chess, the knight moves unpredictably.
In life, instinct can lead.
But the queen?
She governs the board.

This piece flips hierarchy not rebellion, but precision.

Part of my 64 Series exploring power, roles, and silent dynamics inside the game we all play.

#SimayKislaoglu#contemporaryart#laf#venicebiennale by @simay_kislaoglu

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7 months ago

Snow White
Oil on canvas
70 × 120 cm
The 64 Series by @simay_kislaoglu

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10 months ago

Which one would you choose? #simaykislaoglu#abstractart#impressionism#surrealism#romanticism taken in Sotheby's Bond Street by @simay_kislaoglu

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7 months ago

“I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.”
— Virginia Woolf, The Waves

Sancta Potentia

Halo, crown, gold, chess: fragments of inherited authority.

Sancta Potentia takes symbols once used to make identity appear fixed and permanent, and rearranges them around a woman who is still becoming.

Power here is not something possessed. It is something continually constructed.

Oil on canvas
100 × 150 cm #simaykislaoglu#contemporaryart#frieze#friezemasters#tefaf by @simay_kislaoglu

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5 days ago

Life, like chess, unfolds across a field of infinite choices. Each move echoes a thought, a hesitation, or a moment of courage. “Red Gambit” stands as a symbol of the delicate balance between logic and instinct between the calculated path and the bold leap into the unknown.

The red within the black and white represents the heartbeat of human nature: the desire to break free from predictability, to risk comfort for possibility. It reminds us that true mastery lies not in avoiding mistakes, but in embracing them as part of the greater strategy.

In the game of life, as on the board, victory is not merely about winning it is about daring to play with passion, knowing that the beauty of the game is found in its uncertainty.

“Red Gambit” invites the viewer to reflect: What is your next move?
#contemporaryistanbul by @simay_kislaoglu

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a year ago

taken in New Bond Street - Mayfair by @simay_kislaoglu

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17 days ago

Eleanor
Oil on canvas, 75 × 100 cm

Gold was for saints. Shadow is for the rest of us.

For centuries, painters set holy figures against gold, the color of what never changes. Then the Baroque turned to darkness, because that is where a person is truly seen.

Eleanor stands where the two meet. A gilded disc glows behind her like a halo, while the shadows of leaves cross her face, her throat, her sleeve, the way an ordinary afternoon does. She does not turn away from it.

Gold says forever. Shadow says today. She holds both, and holds still.

You don’t need to be free of shadow to be whole.

#oilpainting #contemporaryportrait #baroqueinspired #chiaroscuro #goldleaf figurativeart taken in New Bond Street - Mayfair by @simay_kislaoglu

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21 days ago

WHY DO I USE GOLD?

BECAUSE BEIGE HAS NEVER STARTED A DYNASTY OR SET A THRONE ON FIRE.

GOLD IS BOLD, DRAMATIC.

IT HAS NEVER BEEN JUST A COLOUR.
#byzantium#contemporaryart#artist#simaykislaoglu#oilpainting by @simay_kislaoglu

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2 months ago

L’arte è una magia silenziosa: trasforma ciò che sentiamo in qualcosa che può vivere per sempre. by @simay_kislaoglu

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3 months ago

Checkmate 120x180 cm

She doesn’t hold the chess pieces. She’s grown them pawn, bishop, knight, threaded down her braid like a spine made of decisions she never walked back. The board isn’t behind her. It’s what she’s wearing. Diamonds of burgundy and gold across her shoulders, because a life built on strategy doesn’t stay on the table it becomes the person.

Look at her eyes. Nobody who’s still playing looks like that.

This is the first painting in years I built without red or blue —earth tones only, gold against shadow. It cost me the palette I know how to reach for blindfolded. What came back was quieter, and heavier.

Part of the 64 Series. One painting, one board, sixty-four ways to lose yourself in a single decision.

♟️ Original artwork. DM to inquire.

#64Series #ContemporaryArt #ChessArt #OriginalArtwork #ArtCollector by @simay_kislaoglu

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22 days ago

Take a leaf out of nature’s book…☘️🪾🪵🐿️#artist#simaykislaoglu taken in Hyde Park, London by @simay_kislaoglu

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6 months ago

I am a portrait artist, and painting has always been a part of my life. I’ve never stopped, and I don’t think I ever could because creating art is what keeps me alive. It gives me purpose. I’m someone who can’t sit still; I need to keep moving, keep producing, and keep making something meaningful. Painting allows me to do that.
I believe we all want to leave something behind to leave atrace of who we are. For me, painting is the way I hope to do that. Even after I’m gone, I want my work to remain, to speak for me, and to carry a part of me into the future. It’s my way of carving my name into the world.
Art is also about connection. A painting can speak directly to people without using any words. It hangs on a wall, and the more you look at it, the more you feel something. It can warm your heart, bring you comfort, or take you deeper into your thoughts. That emotional connection is what l love to create through my work.
I work primarily with oil paint, a medium I love for its richness and depth. I’m especially inspired by the techniques of the Renaissance and Baroque masters their use of light, shadow, and dramatic contrast. The Italian way of painting, with its deep shadows and layered emotion, has had a strong influence on me. I believe these elements give portraits a sense of soul, mystery, and deeper meaning.
I’m always growing, always learning and that journey will never end. But what matters most is that I will keep painting, no matter what. Because this is who I am, and this is what I’m meant to Painting teaches me not only how to see but how to live. As Seneca said: “As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” #simaykislaoglu#artist#contemporaryart#contemporaryartist#laf#oilpainting#ikigai by @simay_kislaoglu

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a year ago