Banu Tulumen

I have always been fascinated with colours. 

I believe colours have a voice of their own and are not constrained by their general meaning. They are vibrant in all their shades and they combine with each other even though they may be opposites in the scheme of things. They inspire us to use them to express our feelings and thoughts.

I was encouraged by my art teacher to pursue my love of painting at the young age of eight. She said I painted from my heart. 

I sometimes have an image in my head that I set out to express on a canvas. This image might be affected by the news, by the weather, by nature or by dreams.

Other times I look at the several different sizes of canvas in my studio and one size will call me. Then I look at the paints and one colour will say “pick me”. I start off and as I paint the image on the canvas evolves into something of its own, daring me to pursue it. 

I believe the canvas and the paint have a voice of their own and I am motivated to find out what they want to say.

Over the years I have become more abstract, challenging the chemical mixtures and textures of paint in all its varieties.

In other words, painting for me is an adventure into the unknown.

As Paul Klee once said: “Colour is the place where our brain and the universe meet.”