Merve Ciftcisoy

When Merve first came into contact with drawing, she was just twelve years old and drew her first fashion designs in a fashion magazine from "TopModel", which she had received for her birthday. She immersed herself more and more in drawing silhouettes and created her first fashion designs.

In 2013, she attended the Siebeneichengasse fashion school in 1150 Vienna and took part in many competitions. One of these was the "Pepe Jeans" competition, where she was allowed to design and sew a haute couture dress from recycled jeans. Merve came third among hundreds of participants from Austria, Germany and Switzerland. At fashion school, she learns more about art and creating works of art. She often paints and draws in her ring binders or exercise books outside of art lessons, which her teachers were not so keen on.

From this point onwards, the young artist also turned to fine art. At the age of 16, she received her first major commission. She was asked to decorate the walls of the Donauspital, in the pavilion where her mother worked as a nursing assistant. She paints colourful animals for the first time with acrylic on canvas and immediately realises her great passion for painting on canvas. Merve Bahadir receives more and more commissions and, after graduating from fashion school, decides to do her A-levels in art and design.

Like many of her generation, she became more active on social media and began exhibiting her artwork in cafés, restaurants and hotels. In 2019, she marries the love of her life, Mehmet, who is also her biggest supporter. Their love becomes legal and Merve Bahadir becomes Merve Ciftcisoy. The happiness she shares with Mehmet is multiplied in 2020 by an adorable boy named Safa. Their son motivated the young family to pursue their dreams so that they could be a good role model for him.

2022 marks the start of a very successful year for Merve. She starts giving workshops and brings art closer to other people. In the same year, she creates her series "Focus on the Ottoman Empire", where she reveals more about her roots. The series consists of four paintings. The young artist is planning her first solo exhibition in January 2023, for which she has worked very hard.