I am an interdisciplinary artist. My projects merge traditional art practice with scientific materials and biological mediums such as mold spores. I make the invisible microorganisms around us visible, allowing us to see the micro-world physically.

I explore invisible organisms and create visual and interactive biological landscapes that are both visible and observable. I isolate and use mold spores collected from my surroundings to make the invisible microbiome visible. I isolate mold spores from the air, soil, plants, trees, and humans, as seen in my projects. I incubate them in a synthetic but habitable environment to witness the interactions, struggles, and conflicts of living organisms across the picture surface. During germination, the mold spores physically imprint their color, texture, and shape on the surface of the panels, which is the living platform. Once completed, microorganisms transition from the microworld to the macroworld and have a physical appearance. Mold spores draw an abstract picture as they transform into a living paint agent.

 

AWARDS AND GRANTS 

2025 ​Trawick Prize Semi-Finalist, Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Bethesda, MD
2025  Artist Grant, Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore, MD
2024  Finalist, Baker Award, GBCA, Baltimore, MD
2023  ARPA, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County,  Anne Arundel County Local Artist                        Support Program - Independent Artist Grant
2022 Creativity Grant, Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore, MD
2022 ARPA, Arts Council of Anne Arundel County,  Anne Arundel County Local Artist                        Support Program - Independent Artist Grant
2019 Mary Sawyers Baker Artist Award in Interdisciplinary Category, Baltimore, MD  
2018 ​Trawick Prize Semi-Finalist, Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Bethesda, MD
2017 Trawick Prize Semi-Finalist, Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Bethesda, MD
2015 Trawick Prize Finalist, Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Bethesda, MD
2014 Smack Mellon, Project Grant, Brooklyn, NY.
2013 Trawick Prize Finalist, Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Bethesda, MD
2012 SOFAlab, Science/Art Project Collaboration Grant, George Mason University,Fairfax,VA 
2012 Smack Mellon Hot Picks Artist, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Goldhaber Travel Grant, University of Maryland Graduate School, College Park, MD

RESIDENCIES/FELLOWSHIPS
2023  Artist in Residence, Maryland Hall, Annapolis, MD
2022 Artist in Residence, Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA  
2021 Artist in Residence, Istanbul Art Residency, Istanbul, Turkey 
2020 Artist in Residence+Micro Grant, Laboratory Residency, Spokane, WA 
2017 Fellow Artist, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Artist in Residence, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, VA
2011 Artist in Residence, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2010-12 So Hamiltonian Fellowship, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
2012 College Art Association (CAA) Professional-Development Fellowship, NY
2009 Anne Truitt MFA Scholarship, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (solo exhibitions *) 

2026
Out of Bounds, Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC
Tiny Giants: The Power of Microorganisms, Mühlerama Museum, Zürich, Switzerland 

2025
Tiny Giants: The Power of Microorganisms, Museum Brot und Kunst, Ulm, Germany 
Degeneration: Process and Decay in the Work, AACC, Arnold, MD 
Baker Award Exhibition, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD 
Breakdown: The Promise of Decay, Staten Island Museum, Staten Island, NY 
Environment(al), Maryland Hall, Annapolis, MD 

2024
Fungal Partners: Connections in the Network of Life, Museum Sinclair-Haus, Bad Homburg, Germany 
Baker Award Finalists Showcase, Current Space, Baltimore, MD

2023
The Lab BioArt, During Turkiye Innovation Week, Istanbul, Turkey
Eskizden Piksele Dijital Sanat, Antalya Kültür Yolu Festivali, Antalya, Turkey

2022
Kinetic by Hamiltonian Gallery, Terzo Piano, Washington, DC

2021
Memories and Identities, Istanbul Art Residency, Istanbul, Turkey 
Empirical Evidence, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC  

2019
In/Flux, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY 

2018
Anthropogenic,The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Silver Spring, MD*
Allllll Natural, School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD
Scientific Methods: Art + Science, Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC
New Dimensions, Mitchell Gallery at St. John's College

2017
Istanbul Codex, Contemporary Artists from Turkey, BAM - Palermo, Italy
Umbilical Cord, Buyukdere 35, Istanbul, Turkey
Kentucky Derby Party and Art Auction, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, N

2016
Under the Scope, Silber Art Gallery, Goucher College, Towson, MD
Contemporary Istanbul, with Artnivo artists, Istanbul, Turkey
King of the Forest: Adventures in Bio-perversity, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
CAPP at 10: The Shape of Remembering, Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, MD

2015
40 Meter 4 Walls 8 Cubical, Zorlu PSM, Istanbul, Turkey*
Trawick Prize 2015:Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Gallery B, Bethesda, MD

2014
Bordered World, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
Selin Balci: Microbial Growth, Sandbox Gallery, Washington College, Chestertown, MD
Arena, Honfleur Gallery, Washington, DC
Contemporary Istanbul, with Artnivo artists, Istanbul, Turkey
Faculty Show, Marlboro Gallery, Prince George’s Community College, Largo, MD
Life is Flux, Boyden Gallery at St. Mary's College, MD
SCOPE Art Fair NY, Rush Arts Gallery, NY
I Kan Do Dat, Rush Arts Gallery, NY

2013
SELECT FAIR MIAMI, with Rush Arts Gallery Artists, Miami, FL
Signs of Life, Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Emulsion, East City Art Regional Juried Show, Gallery O, Washington, DC
Hamiltonian Artists Alumni Exhibition, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
(e)merge Art Fair, Artist Platform, Washington, DC
Transformer Gallery Auction, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Regional Juried Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
Trawick Prize 2013:Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Gallery B, Bethesda, MD
The Adele H. Stamp Student Union’s Contemporary Art Collection Latest Acquisitions Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
WPA’s OPTIONS 2013, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA

2012
Interact and Transform, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC*
Call Collect 2012, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
Microscapes, The District of Columbia Arts Center. Washington, DC
Empowered, Marlboro Gallery, Prince George’s Community College, Largo, MD
Untitled no. 3, Randall Scott Projects, Washington, DC
Academy 2012, CONNERSMITH, Washington DC
Fellows Converge ‘Obstructions’, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
Field Work, VisArts, Rockville, MD
Conflux, The Pearl Conard Art Gallery, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, OH

2011
Organic Plasticity, The District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, DC*
Bound, Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC*
Fellows Converge: Broadly Thinking. Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC
Midpoint, Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
 
EDUCATION
2012 MFA, Mixed Media/Installation, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2008 BFA, Intermedia, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
2002 BSc, Forestry, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey