Sinem Beles

Sinem Beles is a Norwegian-born artist who spent most of her childhood in Turkey and is now based in Stavanger. Her artistic path began at a young age with watercolor and digital illustration, mediums that allowed her to experiment freely before moving into acrylic and oil painting, where she found a more direct connection to portraiture and the human figure. She works in a painterly realist style, using bold brushwork to bring emotional depth to her portraits and figures. She often develops her paintings in themed series, returning to the same subjects and ideas from different angles. Each body of work grows out of a concept she wants to explore. Her focus on figurative imagery reflects a continued curiosity about how people reveal themselves and how much remains hidden within a single captured moment.


Artist Statement

My recent work explores the quiet idea that the people we love never fully leave us. Through painterly realism, I try to capture a presence that feels both familiar and slightly out of reach, something that lingers in the room, in memory, or in the atmosphere around a figure.

The portraits and figures in this series are not meant to represent specific individuals, but the sensation of someone remaining with us in spirit despite being physically gone. I also wanted to paint the living in their search for those who are no longer here. Visible brushstrokes and softened edges allow the images to shift between clarity and disappearance.

The intention of these artworks is to find a connection with these traces of spirit and offer viewers the same tranquil feeling of closeness and recognition.


www.instagram.com/sinem.artcanvas