Sibel Kocabasi

Sibel Kocabasi is a
multidisciplinary visual artist, working in painting, staged photography, and
installations. Her art addresses contemporary social issues: from the
deteriorating natural environment, migration, violence against women, across
cultures, including the suppression of female identity and the recent awakening
of feminine power and confidence. In her artworks, she utilizes diverse media:
such as traditional rugs, found objects, emergency survival blankets, and
fibers. Her recent paintings carry an eternal connection with universal nature.Kocabasi was born in northwest
Turkey and raised in Istanbul; she lives and works in South Florida, USA, and
Istanbul, Turkey. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Turkish
Traditional Arts (rug-kilim design, natural dyes, conservation and restoration
of textiles, and the illumination of manuscripts) from the Marmara University
of Fine Arts in Istanbul. She received her Master’s in Fine Arts degree
(painting) from Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, in 2005.Kocabasi is the recipient of
the 2010 South Florida Cultural Consortium’s Visual and Media Artists
Fellowship and the 2006 Hector Ubertalli Visual Arts Award. As an artist, Kocabasi was
selected to talk and present a workshop on “Weaving, Textiles and Painting” at
the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida. She has also been honored to have juried
many fine art competitions. She has ten years of teaching experience in visual
arts; she taught art at Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach State College,
Armory Art Center, Light House Art Center, and the Very Special Arts. Her artwork is in numerous private collections and has been exhibited in
national and international venues: including the 10^th International Cairo Biennial, Tomio Koyama, Japan, International
Museum of Art and Science, McAllen, Texas, and Mimar Sinan University of Fine
Arts, Istanbul, Turkey.