I’m Elcin Marasli Ball, a visual artist based in Leiden. My paintings explore the theatrical nature of emotions. By deliberately distorting light and perspective, I unsettle the viewer’s perception: Is it funny or painful? Calm or anxious? Influenced by surrealism and figurative abstraction, I construct a visual stage where appearance and emotion perform in a state of ambiguity and tension. My interest in psychological states is shaped by personal experiences with therapy and by the cultural shifts of living in Türkiye, the United States, Poland, and the Netherlands. I create under the name F2r - pronounced fikir - idea in Turkish.
Before launching F2r Atölye, I spent nearly a decade in agile product development, and gave public talks on artful making.
Before launching F2r Atölye, I spent nearly a decade in agile product development, and gave public talks on artful making.
Education
2011 – B.F.A., Graphic and Studio Arts – School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
2013 – M.A., Visual and Critical Studies – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
2017 – Ph.D., Philosophy – Graduate School for Social Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Latest Events
2025 - Kunstmarkt Noord #13, Amsterdam, NL
2025 – ArtiBosch, ’s-Hertogenbosch, NL
2025 – Kunstmarkt Wijchen, Wijchen, NL
Selected Exhibitions
2017 - Controlled Denotations, Retrospective Exhibition, University of Rochester, NY, USA (artist’s book)
2014 - Controlled Denotations, InVisible Culture: An Electronic Journal for Visual Culture, online exhibition (artist’s book)
2013 - al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, International Print Center New York, NY, USA (artist’s book)
2013 - Back Matter, The Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, USA (installation)
2012 – 7th International Fabrikartgrup Contemporary Arts Festival, Mustafapaşa, Ürgüp, Turkiye (installation)
2011 - Stephen D. Paine Scholarship Finalists Exhibition, Suffolk University Art Gallery, Boston, USA (painting)
Collections
Joan Flash Artists’ Books Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
William Morris Hunt Memorial Library Artists’ Books Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
2011 – B.F.A., Graphic and Studio Arts – School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
2013 – M.A., Visual and Critical Studies – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
2017 – Ph.D., Philosophy – Graduate School for Social Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Latest Events
2025 - Kunstmarkt Noord #13, Amsterdam, NL
2025 – ArtiBosch, ’s-Hertogenbosch, NL
2025 – Kunstmarkt Wijchen, Wijchen, NL
Selected Exhibitions
2017 - Controlled Denotations, Retrospective Exhibition, University of Rochester, NY, USA (artist’s book)
2014 - Controlled Denotations, InVisible Culture: An Electronic Journal for Visual Culture, online exhibition (artist’s book)
2013 - al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, International Print Center New York, NY, USA (artist’s book)
2013 - Back Matter, The Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, USA (installation)
2012 – 7th International Fabrikartgrup Contemporary Arts Festival, Mustafapaşa, Ürgüp, Turkiye (installation)
2011 - Stephen D. Paine Scholarship Finalists Exhibition, Suffolk University Art Gallery, Boston, USA (painting)
Collections
Joan Flash Artists’ Books Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
William Morris Hunt Memorial Library Artists’ Books Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
| marasliball_artist_cv_extended_web.pdf |