MELİH ŞENTÜRK

MELİH ŞENTÜRK (1975), eserleri Galeri Soyut arşivinde yer alan sanatçılardandır. Galeri Soyut sitesinde sanatçının 9 eseri ve 3 sergisi kayıtlı (eserlerin tarih aralığı 2025–2026). Sitedeki eserlerinde en çok görülen teknikler: Geri dönüşüm, akrilik boya, Atık malzeme, akrilik boya, Geri dönüşüm ve hazır malzemeler .. Eserleri hakkında bilgi ve fiyat için galeriye danışabilirsiniz.

Childhood Years and Early Creative Sparks
Melih Şentürk was born in 1975 in the mining city of Zonguldak, as the third child of a father working at the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises and a housewife mother. The artist's passion for technical details and creation blossomed in his childhood through his fascination with electronic appliances rather than toys. At the age of just 13, taking apart a cassette player his father had newly bought with the aim of making a crane became the first and most concrete demonstration of his ability to transform objects and "bring a form into existence from what does not exist."

Education and Technical Foundations
Continuing his education in the motor department of the Industrial Vocational High School, Şentürk developed his skills in visualization and mechanical construction through the technical drawing and workshop courses he took there. Struggling with severe health problems in his youth, the artist managed to blend his mental production with technical discipline despite experiencing physical limitations due to asthma. The technical infrastructure he gained during this period formed the engineering basis of the complex diorama structures he would produce in the future.

Struggle for Life and Transition Period
Following his high school education, Şentürk stepped into business life to contribute to the family budget, having to put his artistic passions on the back burner for a long time. Amidst the hardships brought by life, business establishment attempts, and personal transformation processes, he put his creativity away "on dusty shelves" for a while. However, the life experiences he accumulated during this process and the human stories he witnessed formed the raw material of the "lived-through" theme that he would later reflect in his works.

Rebirth and Return to Art
The turning point in the artist's life began with his decision to regain his health and turn towards nature. Meeting his wife Behlül, who is a visual arts teacher and painter, during this transformation process, re-ignited the artistic fire within Şentürk. Influenced by the artistic environment at home, the artist brought his passions—which he had put away years ago—to light and began transforming the materials offered by nature into art. The driftwood brought by the southwesterly wind (lodos) were not just pieces of wood for him, but the first bricks of a new world.

Diorama and Dystopian Universe Design
Melih Şentürk focused on constructing dystopian universes of future centuries by combining his art with the "diorama" discipline. He placed the destructions, epidemics, and the struggle for survival resulting from humankind's exploitation of nature at the main axis of his works. The artist invites the viewer to question the consumer habits of the modern world through his shelter depictions built using scrap and waste materials.

Material Philosophy: From Waste to Art
The most distinctive feature of Şentürk's work is breathing a new soul into broken objects that are about to be discarded. He prefers materials that are shaped by nature and have "lived experience," particularly driftwood. For the artist, each piece holds its own story; by bringing these scattered stories together, he builds a holistic and striking narrative. This approach adds both a nostalgic depth and a raw reality to his works.

Hope Born from Darkness: Awakening
Contrary to what might be thought, the dystopian world the artist constructs is not merely a picture of pessimism. According to Şentürk, this "bad"-looking world is actually a new beginning where humanity escapes its alienation from nature. In his works, he depicts an "awakening" phase where a drop of water, a small tree, or a piece of fruit is more valuable than minerals. This awakening is a silent cry that reminds the viewer of the value of the assets they possess.

Current Works and Exhibitions
Realizing his first solo exhibition in 2024 at the Ankara Zülfü Livaneli Cultural Center, Melih Şentürk's journey that started with the question "What can I do with what is inside a cassette player?" has evolved today into the philosophy of "How can I be the voice of a depleting world?" The artist continues to produce his decrepit structures, which serve as a tribute to our weary world, in his studio in Ümitköy, Ankara.