Elçin Ünal

Elçin Ünal graduated from the Department of Art Education of Dokuz Eylül University in 1989. She worked as an art teacher at the Private Izmir College in 1989-1994. In 1994 she became an assistant at Abant Izzet Baysal University and received her FA Degree in 1997. In 1998-1999, she presented TV programs broadcasted on national channels (TRT-1, TRT-3 and TRT-INT) as an art educator, introducing painting art and its methods. She established her own atelier, "Elçin Art Studio" in 1999. She started her doctorate in Creative Arts at the Fine Arts Faculty, Dokuz Eylül University in 1999. In 2000s, she moved to San Francisco; there she painted and restored paintings for Steven Wolf Galleries and private collections. In 2001-2003, she was affiliated with the San Francisco Society of Fine Arts. She participated in 48 art shows with them in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2005, she organized the Ege Art Fair, Izmir′s first art fair with Ege University, at Ataturk Culture Centre. In 2006, she acted in the films "Play” and “Irrinova". In 2007, she was selected for the instructor exchange program Erasmus/Socrates, in Lithuania. There she gave lessons about the monoprint and the under-glass painting technique to Art Education Department students at Marijampole College. These lessons were shown on TV in Lithuania. She also gave a speech about the Turkish Education System at a conference in Marijampole College arranged by Erasmus exchange program. She was invited to the Florence Biennale and to the Art Forum in Bulgaria, 2007. Elçin Ünal opened 17 solo exhibitions, participated in over 60 group exhibitions and in competitions in Turkey. The artist, who has 3 awards, a number of collections both in Turkey and abroad and art works in museums, still works as a lecturer at Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Fine Arts Education and continues her work in her own studio.