Meltem Şahin has spent the last decade focusing on issues related to gender and women’s rights. Her work is shaped by her observations of how Western and Eastern cultures diverge in their views on beauty. She delves into the peculiarities of the universe, its complex beauty, and the melancholy that accompanies the passage of time. Her aim is to create a visual language that moves away from conventional representations of reality, which often alienate individuals from their existence. Instead, Şahin’s figures emerge with a feminist and sensitive approach, rejecting hierarchies based on race, social status, sexual orientation, or other social qualifiers of beauty. Whether through animation or installations, her works exist in a vibrant universe, where neon-colored figures float in space, inviting viewers to live out supernatural experiences that evoke pleasure and pain.

Meltem completed her master's degree in illustration at MICA, USA with a Fulbright scholarship. Her works have been exhibited in more than 30 exhibitions. Her illustrations have received awards or have been selected by the Society of Illustration, American Illustration, Applied Arts, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, ICON Illustration Conference, and 3x3. Her work with AI technology has been selected for the permanent ​​collection of the National Gallery in London. Apple, Meta, and Giphy are some of the companies she has worked with.

Her work “Woven self” is a personal project realized during her residency at the SVA Artist in New York in 2024.