Welcome! I’m an Istanbul-born painter living in the United States. My art studio is outside Philadelphia. I’m also an economist and currently hold a Senior Lecturer in Finance position at the Wharton School of Business.

To purchase an original artwork, please fill the Contact Form.

Here is some up-to-date information about me:

I have recently been selected by the State Department to have paintings exhibited in Ambassador Residences.

I currently teach at the Wharton School of Business. My primary academic interests are behavioral economics and art markets. I am honored to have been awarded Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, William G. Whitney Award for Distinguished Teaching at the Wharton School of Business and Harvard University's Certificate of Distinction in Teaching in recent years.

Recent exhibits:

  • Waverly Heights, PA, 2024

  • Villanova University Art Gallery, PA, 2023

  • Studio Exhibit, Bryn Mawr, PA, 2023

Selected media appearances:

  • Mag Magazine, “Naïve Expressionist”, Artist Feature, 2021

  • “Kabina Sigamayanlar”, a podcast on art, 2020

  • An interview with Seda Selek, Sofos Istanbul (in Turkish). Link

  • Milliyet (highest circulating Turkish daily): Front page coverage, 2020. Link

  • Quoted in Bloomberg on Loss Aversion. Link

  • Featured at Forbes/Investing: Millennials Beware: There Are Downsides To Debt-Free Living. Link.

  • Penn "Women in Art" Initiative Interview. Link

  • "Professor Spotlight: Economics and Art need not be mutually exclusive", The Daily Pennsylvanian. Link.

Selected talks:

  • Bosphorus Universtiy Investment Club, “NFTs in Art”, 2021.

  • The NFT market, Wharton Art Club Panel, 2021.

  • Artist Talk, Sofos Istanbul, 2020.

  • Artist Feature, SPOT Contemporary Art Projects, 2020.

  • Art Markets During Covid, Wharton Art Club, December 2020

  • Should we invest in the art market? Wharton Art Club, October 1, 2019

  • Bryn Mawr College, "The Dubious Economics of the Art Market", October 2017

  • Sirius XM Business Radio, “Knowledge@Wharton,” discussed Labor Market Participation of Artists

  • Sirius XM Business Radio, “Knowledge@Wharton”, discussed the Business of Art, Recent Auctions, Venice Biennial.

  • "The Art Market: An Economist's Perspective," at Harvard Business School.

  • “Consumer Judgment” lecture, Neurosurgery Grand Rounds, UPenn Medical School.

  • "Can a $5 garage sale painting ever be worth $40 million? The Irresistible Economics of the Art World." Huntsman Program Preceptorial, Wharton.

  • “Exploring the relationship between economics and art through Sol LeWitt” , Davis Museum, MA

 

Loved this rare evening sun that came for the slightest of moments in my studio, now almost the end of November. It wasn’t a shiny sunlight / rather, the whole picture was immersed in a perfectly subdued & subtle warmth. My photography skil
In the studio today. It’s raining outside, skies are dark, my contrast lower than usual. I love this painting. It will always remind me the week after I visited the gorgeous Matisse exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art @philamuseum #notesf
A late fall sun, warming my studio this afternoon. I loved this light so much, I wanted to capture it not only in a painting but also in this photograph. #brynmawr #artstudio #mainlineart #mainlineartist . Ogleden sonra gunesi, studyomu sicaklastiri
Latest work from my studio. 3 women, reading stories, under the lemon tree. . Son calismam; yine limon agaci altinda kitap okuyan kadinlar. #sisterhood #whatireadtoday #mainlinepa #mainlineliving #originalart #artforthehome
My renovated studio space in Bryn Mawr is now open. Studio visits are first Friday of every month or by appointment. All art lovers welcome. An official opening to commemorate the new space will be in Spring, date tba. #mainlineartist #mainlinepa #b
New painting, fresh from the studio. Mother & Daughter, acrylic on canvas, 2022, original artwork. . Son gunlerde calistigim Anne & Kizi tablosu, tuval uzerine akrilik, orijinal eser. 2022 Agustos, Istanbul.
Five women, lives intertwined. 36*48 inches, acrylic on canvas, original artwork. 2022. Gizem Saka, Istanbul. . Yasamlari ic ice gecmis bes kadinin hikayesi, bes kiz kardes icin, 2022 yilinin Haziran ayinda Istanbul’da boyadigim tablodur. 90x12
Work in progress (no matter how slow). #slowprogressisstillprogress . Bugunlerde uzerine calistigim tablom, birbirinin omuzuna yaslanmis bes kiz kardes. Bes kardesli bir aileye gidecek. Umarim guzel olur. #studyodabugun #gizemsakastudio #orjinalsan
Working from home, on a nice April day (of uncertain glory). #artistsstudio . Buralara bahar cok gec geldi, ama nefis geldi. Resim yapma hastaligim hep boyle havalarda nuksetti.
Every day is women’s day in my art studio. I have been painting women for a good part of my life now, and have always been drawn to the comfort my women friends provided for me. As a woman artist and academic, I know I’m lucky, having gro
I have so much work to do for my day job these days that it’s been hard to find the time to properly do art. But what I have come to realize is the fickleness of art; you can’t leave it for long, for inspiration indeed comes to those who
Views from the studio, on a Sunday, two paintings almost ready. In both, women reading books. They couldn’t decide what to read, finally agreeing on Prodigal Summer, which in turn happens to be about three women, each of whom one of a kind. .
Precarious proximity of coffee mug and brush dip. Happy Sunday pic from my studio. . Kahve fincani ve boya suyunun tehlikeli yakinligi. Studyoda bir Pazar gunu. #iyipazarlar
Starting the new year’s first painting with some sunshine. #goodluckcharm . Yeni yilin ilk tablosuna vuran gunes, umarim sanat yolumu aydinlatir. #aydinlik #sanat ve #ülke icin
Place women with lemons over a tabletop with lemons 🍋 . Limonlu kadinlara Limonlu bir masa yakisir . #renderedwalls #originalart #ideasforwalls #contemporaryart #womeninart
A day in the studio. Squeezing a morning workout before the kids spend the rest of the week home for #thanksgiving . Studyoda bir gun. Bu hafta Sukran Gunu oldugundan cocuklarin okulu kapanacak ve resim yapmaya fazla firsat olmayacak.
Work in progress, Nov 1, 2021. My women have recently formed a book club and will be reading quite a bit (I hope) in the coming months. I think they’ve picked the next title for their club. #fiction #theyarerealtome . Studyomdaki kadinlar bir