Selin Aydinol moved from Istanbul to Antwerp in 2016. In 2019 she received her master degree in painting from Royal Academy of Antwerp. Her first exhibition was “Omg Is Pink The New Black?” curated by Spank Moons. Followed by “To Be Antwerp” exhibition in Geukens en De Vil Gallery, “Zonder Kunstenaars Geen Kunst” in Muhka, a group show with Chantal Akerman, Fred Bervoets, Ria Pacquée and more. Most recently “De Nieuwe Garde” exhibition by Kunst in Huis in Zuiderpershuis for Antwerp Art Weekend 2021.

Selin makes abstract paintings with acrylic and lacquer on wood. She first draws a figurative image, then makes them abstract by gridding the image. These smaller sections of the image become separate paintings as Selin paints them. The inspiration of this method was generated from her childhood. Selin changed houses many times growing up. Each time she had to learn new rules and habits of that neighborhood to be able to integrate into it. She saw that changing the country you live in is the same. You need to learn and integrate to be able to coexist. The figurative image she draws in the beginning is a metaphor for “a new place/ neighborhood/ country” Then she grids the image. The grid represents the rules/ laws/ habits of that place. Her painting each section into paintings represents the idea: “One person can not represent a whole neighborhood. One neighborhood can not represent a whole country. Everyplace has similar negativities. If you want to stay, you must discover what’s good around you.” The act of painting is discovering what’s good.

Artistically by turning a figurative image into several abstract paintings, Selin wants to emphasize on how much she values abstraction. She is very attracted to abstract art. However, she doesn’t quite get why an abstract image affects her the way it does. This mystery inspires her to make these kinds of works. Selin also believes that as opposed to figurative paintings, abstract paintings have more room for interpretation and expression. Her latest paintings on canvas are half figurative and half abstract. She doesn’t want to only paint on wood. She also  wants to paint on canvas with different subjects.