Rugül Serbest

Born in Izmir in 1987, Serbest graduated from the Painting Department at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Education, in 2012, and completed her master’s degree at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2019. Living and working in Izmir, her practice centers on the body, identity, desire, and representation, intertwined with emotional and intellectual depth.

In her work, Rugul Serbest explores the essence of existence through the presence of her own body. In her paintings, quiet stillness meets intense emotional tension, immersing the audience in a strikingly profound state of empathy. Using herself as the model, her body is central in her process. Moving beyond traditional self-portraiture, her work creates a space where identity, existence, and belonging are deeply contemplated. 

Serbest describes her practice as follows: “In my paintings, I question what it means to exist in the world. We are all born with bodies, and there is nothing beyond the experience of being ourselves. Being someone else isn’t possible for even a single moment—but I realized I can do this with my art. 'What is it like to be someone else?' 'What is it like to be nature?' 'What is it like to feel like a plant, to be a bug?' I want to dissolve into everything, channel everything through myself; I want to become every form and every image. My purpose isn’t to prove anything, but to understand myself and the world around me better.”

Her first solo exhibition at Pi Artworks titled Just Die Smiling Into My Eyes presents an emotional map that explores the boundaries of love, longing, and social constraint. Through works that turn both her body and inner world into an expressive surface, Serbest places the viewer within a space of raw emotional and aesthetic tension. 

Curator Taner Ceylan describes the exhibition as follows: 

“In this exhibition, we are plunged into a battlefield. The frontlines are fluid and shifting; the weapons, harsh and unforgiving. Heads fly through the air, hearts are torn from chests. Gazes cut through the soul. The instruments of murder lie scattered... and the greatest culprit is the spring flower that first deserved to die — smiling into my eyes. Roses, hyacinths, tulips chant in unison the lament of spring: ‘Just die smiling into my eyes.”

Ceylan emphasizes art as a space of freedom and resistance: 

“Art is, above all, a challenge for the artist. They must sever ties with society, family, and the familiar. Societies either cope with art—or they don’t. But in the end, even if it takes years, they are forced to make peace with it.”