MERVE SILVEY

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Merve Arslan Silvey is an American glass mosaic artist who was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1976. She was raised in a home where art was the center of her upbringing and a form of love. Merve’s father, Ozkan Arslan, was a well-known interior designer and decorator who instilled the love of art in her since she was a little girl.

Merve has always been fascinated by the great Byzantine mosaics in her hometown museums – in places like Hagia Sophia and Chora Church that her father took her to visit. That fascination, which was cultivated early in her childhood, later turned into full-blown artistic expression when she decided to study Glass and Ceramics at the Marmara University of Fine Arts in Istanbul, Turkey. During her studies Merve fell in love with the vibrant, fluid colors of stained glass and has been exploring glass mosaic as her medium ever since.

Merve’s passion is for using the natural cadence of lines and shapes inside the glass sheets to create exciting and whimsical interpretations of nature and human life. She works to convey a joyful, positive energy to the viewer through her art.

Merve lives with her son Issac Murat in Hillsboro, Oregon where she creates in her home studio.