User:Berfin Cicek/sandbox

Berfin Cicek (born June 3 1991) is a British artist based in London.

Early Life
Berfin was born in Enfield, North London. She was raised by a Kurdish Alevi family. Since a very young age she's been heavily into drawing, painting and playing musical instruments where she found it easier to express herself. Her passion in art and music was noticeable in her early years, so her parents supported her to take on piano lessons as a hobby. Her ability to learn so quick lead her to build hopes in becoming a classical pianist after several live performances and swift progress through musical graded exams. However, her father who played a strict figure in her life easily persuaded her to study architecture in the University, instead of art or music. Understandably, he wanted the best for her coming from a rather traditional Kurdish background.

Berfin enjoyed her University years where she enjoyed more freedom. After completing her degree in architecture in 2013, she went onto work for an architects studio in Farringdon, London. Despite her achievements, she quickly realised a table top job wasn't the right career for her. She couldn't express her creativity as much as she normally could with painting. Berfin quit her job in architecture, booked flights and went off to travel for a while with her backpack. From Middle East to Australia, she enjoyed some time travelling and figuring out how she can make the initial first step into the art world. It didn't seem so straight-forward. After living in Thailand for some time, she returned to London to begin from somewhere. She believed starting from home and a city where there are endless opportunities would be best for her artistic career. By total coincidence she met with Nicola Philipps in St. James's Park who suggested Berfin to attend London Fine Art Studios where she can receive proper classical painting training to improve her technique. Berfin applied and began her painting and sculpture courses at London Fine Art Studios. After some time, Berfin got her first studio in South London near where she currently lives where she is actively working on several projects before organising her solo shows in London and all over the world.