Meltem Kaya-Simsek

@meltem-kaya-simsek
“Drawing from personal experience, I investigate vulnerability, femininity and the tension between closeness and autonomy in my paintings.”
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Artworks

4 products

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Meltem Kaya-Simsek
King's Escape Mehr erfahren
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Meltem Kaya-Simsek

King's Escape

A courtly fable where power becomes prop, and wit finds the door., A courtly farce where authority slips, and the gameboard starts to tilt., A darkly,

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Meltem Kaya-Simsek
Manual of a Modern Woman Mehr erfahren
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Meltem Kaya-Simsek

Manual of a Modern Woman

A modern still life where care, control, and branding sit in uneasy balance., A still life of self-care as modern doctrine: routine, desire, and contr

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Meltem Kaya-Simsek
The Gambler Mehr erfahren
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Meltem Kaya-Simsek

The Gambler

Deadpan power play where humor slips into appetite, patience, and control., Deadpan drama where pattern becomes armor and every move reads as a wager.

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Meltem Kaya-Simsek
Queen's Gambit Mehr erfahren
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Meltem Kaya-Simsek

Queen's Gambit

A sly checkmate of glamour and appetite, where status shifts and the room plays its hand., A bedroom tableau where strategy turns to satire and desire

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Meltem Kaya is a Berlin-based artist and trained lawyer whose work explores intimacy, power and the invisible systems that shape human relationships. Drawing from personal experience, her paintings investigate vulnerability, femininity and the tension between closeness and autonomy. Combining figurative elements with symbolic motifs such as chess and pigs, she examines how hierarchy, desire and control operate both in private encounters and societal structures.

Her practice is deeply influenced by her legal background, reflecting an ongoing questioning of rules, order and the distribution of power. Through emotionally charged compositions, Meltem translates psychological states into visual language, creating works that move between personal narrative and structural critique. Her paintings invite viewers to reflect on the subtle dynamics that define identity, connection and the roles we inhabit.