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Layers of
time,
memory and transformation.
Elif Process is an Istanbul-based multidisciplinary visual artist whose work examines time, memory and transformation through layered visual structures.
Her compositions merge past and present, creating fractured timelines where identities shift and stories reshape themselves.
She works with acrylic, oil, collage and digital processes, building a unique visual language grounded in reconstruction, distortion and temporal layering.
Her practice focuses on the traces that time leaves behind — moments, faces and symbols that echo across different eras, blending into a single, fluid narrative.
About Elif
She works with acrylic, oil, collage and digital processes, building a unique visual language grounded in reconstruction, distortion and temporal layering.
Her practice focuses on the traces that time leaves behind — moments, faces and symbols that echo across different eras, blending into a single, fluid narrative.
I paint not what I see,
but what time leaves behind.
The Observers
“The Observers” captures a silent encounter in which two figures stand before a partial fragment of Egon Schiele’s Lovers.
What they see is not the whole painting, but a chosen slice—an incomplete body, an interrupted intimacy.
This fragmentation mirrors the imperfect way we witness relationships:
we never see the whole story; we only ever see the part shown to us.
The couple’s backs face the viewer, pulling us directly into their viewpoint.
We stand where they stand, sharing the distance between them and Schiele’s emotional tension.
The Anatolian carpet grounds the scene in cultural memory, while the deep green salon evokes a timeless 1920s atmosphere, collapsing eras into a single moment.
This work creates a dialogue across time—
between Schiele’s expressive, vulnerable figures and Elif Process’s layered, cinematic figuration.
“The Observers” reminds us that looking at art is always a dual act:
a gaze extended toward another’s story, and a reflection quietly returning to our own.
Year: 2025
Size: 80 × 130 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition; Schiele reinterpretation)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Temporal Layering
Details: Features a direct visual dialogue with Egon Schiele’s expressive figuration; double-frame composition; Anatolian carpet motif; shifted gaze dynamics.
What they see is not the whole painting, but a chosen slice—an incomplete body, an interrupted intimacy.
This fragmentation mirrors the imperfect way we witness relationships:
we never see the whole story; we only ever see the part shown to us.
The couple’s backs face the viewer, pulling us directly into their viewpoint.
We stand where they stand, sharing the distance between them and Schiele’s emotional tension.
The Anatolian carpet grounds the scene in cultural memory, while the deep green salon evokes a timeless 1920s atmosphere, collapsing eras into a single moment.
This work creates a dialogue across time—
between Schiele’s expressive, vulnerable figures and Elif Process’s layered, cinematic figuration.
“The Observers” reminds us that looking at art is always a dual act:
a gaze extended toward another’s story, and a reflection quietly returning to our own.
Year: 2025
Size: 80 × 130 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition; Schiele reinterpretation)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Temporal Layering
Details: Features a direct visual dialogue with Egon Schiele’s expressive figuration; double-frame composition; Anatolian carpet motif; shifted gaze dynamics.
Leaving the Night Behind
“Leaving the Night Behind” unfolds the traces, silence, and weight of a night within a red salon. The half-finished glasses, extinguished candles, masks, crystals, and final curl of cigarette smoke mark a night lived, ended, yet not entirely gone. The woman’s calm but commanding posture carries the power to leave the night behind, while the resting leopard reflects her inner strength. The glow-in-the-dark Starry Night awakens when the room dims, drawing the viewer back into the night itself. This work captures the quiet sovereignty of a woman standing between memory and the present, as the night transforms into nothing more than a lingering echo.
Year: 2025
Size: 90 × 130 cm
Medium: Oil, Acrylic & Glow-in-the-Dark Pigments on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (figurative detailing, Van Gogh reinterpretation, layered lighting effect)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Neo–Art Deco / Temporal Fusion
Notes: Features a glow-in-the-dark reinterpretation of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, illuminated when the lights dim.
Year: 2025
Size: 90 × 130 cm
Medium: Oil, Acrylic & Glow-in-the-Dark Pigments on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (figurative detailing, Van Gogh reinterpretation, layered lighting effect)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Neo–Art Deco / Temporal Fusion
Notes: Features a glow-in-the-dark reinterpretation of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, illuminated when the lights dim.
Two Women, One Gaze
“Two Women, One Gaze” is an encounter where two women—one emerging from Neşe Erdok’s timeless portrait and the other framed by a half-open door—meet within the same line of sight. The Dalmatian stands as a silent yet steady witness, grounding the invisible bond between them and transforming the moment into a living space. The work unites the strength of womanhood with the memory of time, blending the weight of a gaze with the depth of silence into a single suspended instant.
Year: 2025
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed technique (oil, acrylic, detailing)
Size: 70 × 100 cm
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Temporal Layering
Notes: Includes a direct conceptual dialogue with a Neşe Erdok portrait.
Year: 2025
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed technique (oil, acrylic, detailing)
Size: 70 × 100 cm
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Temporal Layering
Notes: Includes a direct conceptual dialogue with a Neşe Erdok portrait.
Maria
“Maria” reinterprets the fragile yet dignified emotional state embodied by Angelina Jolie’s character in the film. The woman’s gaze carries the weight of a story while hinting at a strength that quietly surpasses it. The hat, gloves, and deep blue background invite a cinematic tone into the painting, while the figure’s posture extends her identity beyond the frame. This work speaks to the coexistence of vulnerability and resilience within a single woman.
Year: 2025
Size: 50 × 70 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Cinematic Portraiture
Notes: A portrait inspired by Angelina Jolie and the emotional tone of the film Maria.
Year: 2025
Size: 50 × 70 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Cinematic Portraiture
Notes: A portrait inspired by Angelina Jolie and the emotional tone of the film Maria.
Kemal
“Kemal” focuses not on Atatürk’s commanding public voice, but on the depth of his inner silence. The determined line of his profile carries the weight of thought, while the red background suggests the shaping of a nation’s destiny. The curl of cigarette smoke rises like a trace of passing time. This work reminds us that Atatürk’s power lay not only in his actions, but in the clarity of vision born from quiet contemplation.
Year: 2025
Size: 50 × 70 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered oil & acrylic)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Iconic Portraiture
Notes: A contemporary interpretation inspired by the contemplative presence of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Year: 2025
Size: 50 × 70 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered oil & acrylic)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Iconic Portraiture
Notes: A contemporary interpretation inspired by the contemplative presence of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Her Night
“Her Night” transports the artist’s own exhibition opening into the imagined atmosphere of the 1920s. The woman becomes a figure existing outside of time, positioned among vintage cars, silhouettes, and watching crowds. The Dalmatian stands as a loyal witness, grounding the scene and reflecting the artist’s inner journey. This work reveals a woman powerful enough to carry her night, her center, and her rhythm into any moment in history: simultaneously past, present, and entirely her own.
Year: 2025
Size: 60 × 80 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered acrylic + oil detailing)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Neo–Art Deco
Notes: Imagines a modern woman within the atmosphere of a 1920s night.
Year: 2025
Size: 60 × 80 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered acrylic + oil detailing)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Neo–Art Deco
Notes: Imagines a modern woman within the atmosphere of a 1920s night.
The Fifth
“The Fifth” visualizes a rupture in time where three different eras—Renaissance, the 1920s, and the present—collide. The woman with the ermine gazes into the past, the artist’s figure into another direction, and the Sentinel dog toward yet another plane; amidst this misalignment, only the Sphynx cat engages the viewer directly. As the fifth and most aware witness, the cat acts as a silent consciousness binding these timeframes together. The work freezes a moment in which “who is watching whom” becomes uncertain, and where the true witness is the one standing outside the frame.
Republic Table
“Republic Table” records a timeless gathering set before the Istanbul skyline during the golden hour of sunset. Atatürk sits at the center of a meeting shaped by vision, resilience, and the birth of a nation. Mehmet Akif Ersoy’s moral voice, İsmet İnönü’s diplomatic memory, Rauf Orbay and Kazım Karabekir’s military grounding align along the table. Halide Edip’s defiant words, Afet İnan’s devotion to knowledge, Sabiha Gökçen’s wings of freedom, Füreya Koral’s creative vision, and Nazım Hikmet’s call for humanity form the cultural and intellectual backbone of the Republic.
Ülkü Adatepe stands as the child face of this future, while Nutuk, the newspaper headline, and the red-tinted glasses emphasize the weight of historical responsibility. The small boat drifting across the Bosphorus becomes a quiet metaphor for new beginnings. This work reminds us that the Republic is not merely a political transformation, but a vision of civilization rising on the horizon of Istanbul.
Year: 2025
Size: 100 × 140 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition, historical reconstruction)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Historical Narrative
Notes: Background depicts an Istanbul golden-hour sunset with a symbolic small boat on the water.
Ülkü Adatepe stands as the child face of this future, while Nutuk, the newspaper headline, and the red-tinted glasses emphasize the weight of historical responsibility. The small boat drifting across the Bosphorus becomes a quiet metaphor for new beginnings. This work reminds us that the Republic is not merely a political transformation, but a vision of civilization rising on the horizon of Istanbul.
Year: 2025
Size: 100 × 140 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition, historical reconstruction)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Historical Narrative
Notes: Background depicts an Istanbul golden-hour sunset with a symbolic small boat on the water.
Self-Reflection
“Self-Reflection” turns the surface of time into a mirror that reveals the invisible line between the figure and the viewer. Whether the frame is a mirror, a window, or a portal into another time remains uncertain; the woman exists both inside and outside the scene. The telephone cord breaks the boundary of the canvas, turning the call into an invitation aimed directly at the viewer. The parrot acts as a symbol of witnessing, while the Dalí reference recalls the melting, slippery nature of time. The Anatolian carpet rhythm inscribes cultural memory beneath the fractured layers. The figure’s gaze returns the question of ‘who is watching whom’: Are we observing her, or is she observing us? The work becomes both a reflection and an encounter—whispering that the one who looks back from within time may, in fact, be seeing us.
Year: 2025
Size: 60 × 90 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition, temporal framing)
Concept: Mirror-as-portal, temporal distortion, viewer–subject dialogue
Details: Telephone cord extending outside the canvas; Dalí reference in background; Anatolian carpet motif; parrot as witness figure.
Year: 2025
Size: 60 × 90 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition, temporal framing)
Concept: Mirror-as-portal, temporal distortion, viewer–subject dialogue
Details: Telephone cord extending outside the canvas; Dalí reference in background; Anatolian carpet motif; parrot as witness figure.
The Duality
“The Duality” reveals a moment where the female figure stands at the threshold of two different realities.
The elegant woman in the foreground belongs to her own time, while the vibrant fragmented painting behind her carries the rhythm of another world entirely. Her gesture suggests a consciousness moving between these two dimensions—between the visible and the imagined.
The black-and-white hound becomes the silent witness of the scene, embodying intuition, loyalty, and the unseen. The leash in the woman’s hand marks the thin line between control and freedom, hinting that two identities, two perspectives, and two worlds can coexist at once.
This work records a quiet dialogue between the woman’s outward presence and her inner landscape—a dual flow of selfhood, fractured time, and the layered experience of femininity.
Year: 2025
Size: 70 × 100 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Neo–Art Deco
Notes: Features a symbolic interaction between the female figure, a sentinel hound, and a Cubist–inspired interior painting.
The elegant woman in the foreground belongs to her own time, while the vibrant fragmented painting behind her carries the rhythm of another world entirely. Her gesture suggests a consciousness moving between these two dimensions—between the visible and the imagined.
The black-and-white hound becomes the silent witness of the scene, embodying intuition, loyalty, and the unseen. The leash in the woman’s hand marks the thin line between control and freedom, hinting that two identities, two perspectives, and two worlds can coexist at once.
This work records a quiet dialogue between the woman’s outward presence and her inner landscape—a dual flow of selfhood, fractured time, and the layered experience of femininity.
Year: 2025
Size: 70 × 100 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique (layered figurative composition)
Style: Contemporary Figurative / Neo–Art Deco
Notes: Features a symbolic interaction between the female figure, a sentinel hound, and a Cubist–inspired interior painting.
Blue Moment
“Blue Moment” is a reconstruction of the artist’s own exhibition opening, reimagined within a timeless salon immersed in shades of blue. The figures gathered around the table merge the aesthetic memory of the 1920s with the presence of contemporary individuals—yet the true guests of the night are the masters on the wall: the golden shimmer of Klimt, the fractured forms of Picasso, the dreamlike language of Miró, the trembling rhythm of Van Gogh, and the Anatolian depth of Nuri İyem quietly accompany the scene.
On the table, the exhibition poster becomes a doorway into the present, allowing past and now to raise a glass together. The flames of the candles, the half-finished glasses, and the glow of crystal objects carry the pulse of an opening-night ritual, while the blue atmosphere of the room compresses the weight of the evening into a single moment. This work captures not just a night, but a feeling—a meeting—a brief bending of time that turns into a single blue memory: a “Blue Moment.”
Year: 2025
Size: 90 × 130 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique, layered figurative composition
Details: References to Klimt, Picasso, Miró, Van Gogh, and Nuri İyem; the artist’s own exhibition poster; gala table setting; crystals, candles, glasses; a reimagined opening night within a 1920s atmosphere.
On the table, the exhibition poster becomes a doorway into the present, allowing past and now to raise a glass together. The flames of the candles, the half-finished glasses, and the glow of crystal objects carry the pulse of an opening-night ritual, while the blue atmosphere of the room compresses the weight of the evening into a single moment. This work captures not just a night, but a feeling—a meeting—a brief bending of time that turns into a single blue memory: a “Blue Moment.”
Year: 2025
Size: 90 × 130 cm
Medium: Oil & Acrylic on Canvas
Technique: Mixed Technique, layered figurative composition
Details: References to Klimt, Picasso, Miró, Van Gogh, and Nuri İyem; the artist’s own exhibition poster; gala table setting; crystals, candles, glasses; a reimagined opening night within a 1920s atmosphere.
Latest Works
Retrospect is a visual exploration of time and its layered fragments.
Memories, historical impressions and contemporary symbols intersect within the same composition, forming a nonlinear narrative.
Rather than depicting a single moment, the series reflects on how time overlaps, erases, rewrites and transforms what we see.
Exhibitions
Retrospect
2025 • Solo Exhibition
Blank Space
2025 • Group Exhibition
Phoenix
2025 • Group Exhibition
Neos
2025 • Group Exhibition
Pomegranate
2024 • Group Exhibition
IAAF –
Istanbul Art
2023 • Group Exhibition
Extravagant Remediation
2022 • Group Exhibition
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