Seda Hepsev (Istanbul, Turkey, 1978) lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland. The artist received her B.A. in Painting from Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts (2000), M.A. and Ph.D. in Art from Yildiz University Faculty of Arts and Design (2013). Recent shows include Swiss Art Awards (nominated) Messe Basel 2022, Zürich Art Grants (awarded) Helmhaus (2022), Grosse Regionale, Alte Fabrik Rapperswil (2021), Mediality & Materiality, Förderverein Aktuelle Kunst, Münster (2021).

Her works include embroidery, sculpture, and installations that originate from drawings. Passion, space, and the subjectivity of the female body are central to her works. Body parts, beasts, distorted characters, and traditional motifs often appear in her work, which appears fragile, incomplete, and multi-layered. She builds her artistic approach, strolling through a visual language ranging from historical allegories, iconographies, illustrations, and mythologies to contemporary images. Layered textile paintings, hanging threads, and wires suggest narratives where fact and fiction are uncertain, and where protagonists remain mysterious and motives unclear. Fraught interpersonal dynamics, rendered with humor, empathy, and, at times, absurdity form the visual focus of her works. She makes stories visible through artistic techniques that require patience and compassion. It has the intimacy and fragility of human and non-human forms that transform into fantastic identities.