MEET
CEREN MCKAY
Artist. Creator. Designer.
Welcome to the portfolio of Ceren McKay, a place where you can discover her work, skills, and professional experience.
Take a moment to look through the gallery, and get in touch for more information.
ARTIST BIO
A Visual Journey
Ceren McKay (1971, Turkey) is a multi-faceted artist.Since 1991 she has been involved in the theatre, music and fine arts and from 2012 has been prolifically creating paintings and mixed media artworks from her home based Studio in Kelowna.
After studying theatre in the university, she pursued her career in the visual arts and communication.
In 1998, she received her BFA in graphic design and was accepted by the Royal Institute of Art in Sweden as a guest student and free artist, working on different printing techniques as well as digital media.
During those 8 years in Sweden, Ceren also studied Desktop Publishing and Multimedia Design, completed her training in TTG Sverige AB and worked as a freelance graphic designer for different companies and magazines.
Ceren attended several group exhibitions during her student years and had a solo exhibition of her photographs in Gothenburg and a solo exhibition of her graphic artworks in Stockholm.
Ceren is a member of Artsco and Alternator Contemporary Art Centre and attended Alternator Members Exhibition RedDot several times as well as Artsco- Artscape, Culture days Downtown Gallery, Arts on the Avenue exhibitions in Kelowna and Lake Country Art Gallery.
After living and studying in different cities and countries, she now lives in the beautiful Okanagan city of Kelowna with her husband and their little daughter.
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes... Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas.” Arshile Gorky
I create abstract paintings just because of this idea! It’s been running in my veins since I don't know when and it makes me feel free.. It is so wide, so open, so... liberating! Acrylic and acrylic mediums are my main mediums but I love adding different materials and experimenting with them. Burlap, newspaper, gravel, metal, even lightweight joint compound.
Before I paint, I think about it, but rarely make sketches. Most of the times the sketch is in my mind and it just begins.. It depends on what's going on in my life or what I'm being influenced by at that time, but for me it's always exciting to start a new painting..
I often make a lot of changes during the painting process and finally, at some point it tells me when to stop. Until it does, even if it takes weeks to finish it, I work on it.. it's not necessarily painting over and over again but watching it, thinking about it, mentally talking to it and playing with it.. until it's "right" for me.
For the most part I use brushes and palette knives to paint but as well as these I also use my hand, end of a brush, sponge, paper towel, paper, plastic film etc to give different effects.
Inspiration comes from varying avenues ... a feeling, a moment, memory, a poem, a piece of music. Sometimes it strikes, of course, at the oddest moments and I feel restless until I can get to paint it. When I have been asked to put that feeling into words the closest explanation I can give is to say "it's like missing someone you love".
Hearing or reading other people's varying interpretations of my work is one of my biggest joys.
In today's world with all it's stresses, my wish, for a while, is to share the beauty of my colors.