Tülin Çabuk Dominiak
Tülin Çabuk Dominiak was born in Istanbul in 1981. She graduated from the Painting Program of Marmara University’s Atatürk Faculty of Education, Fine Arts Department in 2003. She completed her master’s degree at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan between 2011 and 2014. She worked as an art director in advertising agencies based in Cape Town and Oxford, as well as in the Corporate Communications Department at Doğuş University in Istanbul.
Since 2020, she has been working as the Head of the Visual Arts Department at The Koç High School, teaching Film and Painting courses while continuing her nature- and human-focused artistic projects in her own studio.
In her works, the artist incorporates symbolism in nature, ecological sensitivity, and themes of inner exploration. By supporting her paintings with textual narratives, she establishes a strong connection with the audience and invites them on her own inner journeys.
In addition to her solo exhibitions in Istanbul titled The Language of My Motifs, In My Nature, and Orchard Garden, she has participated in group exhibitions in Milan, Florence, and Pisa.
The Enclosed Garden
The exhibition’s provocative elements inspire the audience to reflect on urgent contemporary issues such as climate change, environmental destruction, and the degradation of nature.
“Someday, probably very soon, we shall need what our big cities are missing: some very peaceful, spacious places to meditate, places... cut off from outside noises and street criers, new buildings and plantings which together express the importance of meditation and exclusion... We want to see ourselves transformed in stone and plant. We want to travel inside ourselves when we are strolling about those gardens.” — Nietzsche, 1882
"Enclosed Garden" symbolizes the power humans hold over nature and the bond formed through this power. These gardens, reflecting the artists’ inner journeys, serve not only as physical spaces but also as spiritual sanctuaries. Depicted as places where emotions such as beauty, inspiration, magic, serenity, peace, intimacy, and grandeur come to life, these gardens function as spaces for rest, memories, meditation, prayer, celebration, and play.
Protected from the outside world by high fences, enclosed gardens exist as refuges in a chaotic and hostile world place of calm, silence, order, and pleasure. The exhibition highlights the introverted and detached nature of these gardens. As described in Dante’s Divine Comedy, the garden becomes an allegory of existence, a space of comfort, freedom, and escape. In today’s world, more than ever, these gardens represent a dimension we deeply need.
The artworks reveal the simple yet striking reality of nature, confronting the audience with truths that are often overlooked. By emphasizing the domestication of nature and the profound bond humans form with it during this process, the exhibition strengthens empathy, deepens the connection between humans and nature, raises ecological awareness, and encourages collective responsibility for the state of our planet.
The exhibition’s provocative elements inspire the audience to reflect on urgent contemporary issues such as climate change, environmental destruction, and the degradation of nature. Beyond offering an aesthetic experience, this exhibition delivers a powerful message aimed at increasing ecological consciousness. By showcasing the beauty and fragility of nature, the artists invite viewers to form a more mindful and responsible relationship with the natural world.