When you search for her name on the internet, you will see that in the site where you will find her biography she is defined foremost as a “female painter.” She is proud to be a woman and she has labored a great deal to reach the place in her life in which she is currently, so she is someone who completely fulfils these two roles. To create her paintings she takes as a starting point the apples and pomegranates in the orchards of Merzifon, where she spent her childhood, and the women who bring fertility to the world with their presence. Before us is a courageous, sensitive, prolific “female painter”: Canan Berber…

How was your interest in painting shaped from childhood onwards?

C.B.: I graduated in 1988 from the Textile Engineering Department of Ege University. Until 1993, I worked in textile product planning and advanced quickly in my career. But then I had this sudden wish to enrich my life and I started by going to England for two months and I ended up staying there for four months. I would spend half a day at school and half a day at work. I continuously visited museums and galleries. I practically lived in the British Museum. I visited galleries and museums in other European cities too. It was almost like a sickness for me. In the meantime my visual memory filled up. I studied the lives of painters and I began to get to know more about them. I gained knowledge on art history. Then I attended art and design workshops at the City University in London. And that’s how new windows opened for me. I also took modern dance and jazz dance courses. And I worked as a face-model for painters. My face was considered unusual. One of those painters used to go to France on weekends and I earned some money looking after his old cat.

Then I returned to Turkey, but I didn’t really know what to do. I was living in a very quiet place, in Akatlar, Istanbul. I shut myself at home and began painting. I used to buy whole boxfuls of glass from Paşabahçe and paint on them.

Whose interest did you first attract in Turkey? Who was the first person who showed an interest in you?

C.B.: I was the first to start showing an interest in my surroundings. My acquaintances encouraged me. But of course it’s difficult to trust in what they say; you can’t help thinking that they cannot be objective because they love me. And you can’t be objective about yourself. One day I met somebody I didn’t know; a photographer, the photography historian Yener Boran. I can say that it was he who discovered me.

The day after we met he came to drink a cup of coffee at my workshop. When he saw the postcards I had made when I was at university, he said: “You are a painter, you make paintings, forget about this glasswork.” I used to do paintings too, but at that time painting used to bore me. I preferred to create new things. For example, I used to cut out film magazines, used them to make collages, draw on them and then cover them with varnish. Boran said, “Forget about them. You should only do paintings.” That’s when I began to think, “Maybe I am actually creating something.”

I also should not forget Devran Bursalıoğlu. He was also among the first people who discovered me. Devran does not like colors. In his shop he has works by 60 different artists, but mine are the only works with color in them. In fact, when he saw the interest that my paintings attracted, he changed his ideas somewhat; we worked together for a long time.

When did you start to earn a living from your art?

C.B.: The idea that painting could become a profession for me did not even cross my mind. But in 1997 I first worked with Dilek Işıksel, a student of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, and then with Adnan Çoker and with his student Hülya Düzenli. Later on, I worked on ceramics for about a year with Ayten Turan.

The first person I worked with, Dilek Işıksel, is a great painter. Once or twice a day I used to attend her workshop in Galata, Kuledibi. I learned a lot from her. One day she said to me, “You know what? Your style resembles that of Kandinsky, of Klee. You have a common essence.” In order to understand better what Dilek meant that day I immediately went and bought a book on Klee. But it didn’t have a good effect on me, because the minute I thought my work resembled his I began to run away from it. I’m ambitious and I don’t want to resemble anyone. It’s alright if some points coincide, but I wouldn’t want for anybody to say, “It resembles such and such.” I have things to say and I want to say them in my own way. I am avant-garde, I can feel it. I am a pioneer, a leader; I create and since I take a lot from all the painters before me, I will be giving a lot to other painters too. I can feel it…

Adnan Çoker’s student, Hülya Düzenli, with whom I worked later, saw slides of my work, liked them and asked me to come to her workshop. She said, “You use colors very skilfully; your work is of very good quality. I would like to work with you on your own.” She said that she wanted to teach me academic information on subjects such as light, shadow, space and color. She said, “You are a color person. You are very good at using colors; you have courage. But you must also learn what I have to teach you.” I agreed and I worked with her for one year.

I also worked on ceramics with Ayten Turan, at Pi Artworks in Ortaköy. For example, I was very interested in mosaics. I wasn’t able to work on everything at the same time, so I tried to add them to my paintings. I get bored when I work only with paints or only on a canvas with four corners. That is why I work with round canvases sometimes.

And your first exhibition took place soon after, I think?

C.B.: Yes. I had my first exhibition in 2000. I didn’t actually want to hold an exhibition, I didn’t feel ready. I resisted the idea for a long time. Then I changed my mind, I went and organized it myself. We did three exhibitions at the Asmalımescit Gallery. All my paintings in all three exhibitions were sold out. I was greatly motivated by this. People I didn’t know, tourists from New Zealand and France who saw my exhibition when they were passing by, bought my paintings

I had already begun to earn some money from painting. Tırsan had already bought 17 of my paintings. My friends even said, “You are going to become a famous painter, give us your sketches,” and they would pay me 10 or 20 lira for my drawings, despite my objections. It is after these exhibitions that I began to think, “I have begun to make money from painting.” In all my successive exhibitions I sold more paintings then I expected.

How did the first female forms, the pomegranate and the apple emerge? From where did you draw your inspiration?

C.B.: After the first two or three exhibitions a new period of painting began for me in 2003. The women, the apples, the pomegranates emerged. I don’t ask myself how it happened, it just happened. I only think about it when people ask me.

Your life is full of paeans to womanhood, isn’t that right?

C.B. : Absolutely. For example I always wear high heel shoes. I attach great importance to female figures, whether in paintings or in novels. Being a woman is a symbol of fertility, of abundance. The goddess concept was the first to exist, the god concept emerged later. And I like it that women, who enjoy such a different status, should be proud of their gender. If abandon your womanhood, you will never be able to find yourself. Being a woman is our most primitive, most natural state. It may be tiring, but it’s very important.

A clear emphasis on womanhood can indeed be seen in your work…

C.B.: I like emphasizing things of this kind. This is something that eyes can perceive by themselves. Pomegranates and apples are the symbol of Amasya and Merzifon, the area where I was born. I spent my life in apple orchards. Apples are my favorite fruit. I like pomegranates a lot too. Pomegranates are said to originate from Iran. My ancestors came from Iran. But of course I didn’t know any of this when I was younger. I learned these things over time and the more I learned, the more I was interested. I believe that women, pomegranates and apples really suit each other. Aren’t fruits referred to to describe women in general anyway? Aren’t women generally referred to as having “cheeks like apples” or “cherry-colored lips?” Especially apples and pomegranates evoke in me the strength, the beauty, the flavor of women, everything about women. That is why I make use of all of these fruits.

How did you begin collaborating with Adler, the world-famous jewellery brand?

C.B.: Some people from Adler saw my exhibition in Bodrum in 2003 and liked it very much. They said, “We are buying these paintings, but we also want to organize an exhibition with you.” We organized the exhibition in Geneva, six or seven months after we met. The exhibition was attended by members of high society from all over Europe. News of the exhibition appeared in magazines throughout Europe. We sold an incredible number of paintings and I received orders for half as many more.

So can we say that meeting Adler represents a milestone in your career?

C.B.: Absolutely. And it wasn’t limited to one exhibition; we collaborated quite extensively. I featured mainly in work related to stores in the UK and in Switzerland. The invitations for the store in Geneva had my paintings on them. That promotional activity featured whirling dervishes. Then we began to work together on every season of the London store; Easter, New Year, shoes, butterflies… I made work that was exclusive for them. That is how I started to be known world-wide. People from all over the world bought my work. My paintings are still on sale at the Adler store in London.

Do you make plans in your life? Do you set goals for yourself?

C.B.: Not really. I’d rather live my life day by day. I don’t know what I will be doing in five years’ time, but I plan each day. There are no holidays in my life. My mind, my life-style does not change. Even if I go and lie on a beach, my life in the workshop continues.

Do you have any dreams for the future?

C.B. : Yes. I have even taken some steps; I have actually paved the way for this dream. I went to the village of Bilge, following the carnage. The children were crying. I wanted to console them. I felt such pity for them, I felt so sorry. I welcomed them into my arms. I became friends with them and we painted together. I got four of the children to come to an exhibition I opened here. When children are shown interest, they survive traumas more easily. I went to the village once again and spent time with the children. I thought of taking one of those children and becoming a foster mother, but that would have benefitted only one child. I want to do something that benefits all children. So I decided to have a school built in the middle of Mardin. Or rather a gymnasium, like those in Ancient Greece. A place for children to spend time after school, to develop themselves in fields such as arts, sports, sciences and languages. I talked to the Governor of Mardin, he liked my plan and said that they would support it. He said he would present it as a project for the European Union. This is a really important step. I intend to spend several days a month with those children. Together with friends of mine who work in a variety of fields, such as architects and educators, we are forming a core team and working on what can be done for children in that area. I have never had a dream that I have not been able to fulfil. I hope it’s going to be like that this time too. I really want to do this.

This may be the dream of all painters: I don’t know how meaningful it is, but I have a personal dream regarding the future; this is my country, it is easy for me to reach out to large numbers of people and they can reach out to me. But what I would like is to achieve this with people all over the world.