Elif Giray

Elif Giray
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

STATEMENT

In my work, I experiment with ideas, colour and texture. I cut and compose mostly small to medium sized collages using a combination of abandoned vintage photographs, old handwritten letters, decorative and handmade papers, everyday artifacts, watercolour and acrylic paint. My abstract paintings combine colours, molding medium and palette knife strokes. Each discipline allows me to tackle similar themes but from a different lens; my collages allow me to explore in an up close and more concrete way and my
paintings allow for more distance and abstraction, bridging the micro and macro.

My process is entirely intuitive. I play with composition until something feels right, allowing my unconscious to guide me. Influenced by abstract expressionism and the automatism movement, I never begin with a fixed plan—the work unfolds as I create. I chase a certain feeling, though I don’t know what it is until I arrive there.

Ultimately, I hope to evoke emotion—to stir a sense of wistfulness, reflection on relationships, and an awareness of the layers of a life lived. My wish is for viewers to connect with the fleeting nature of time and to find echoes of their own memories within my work.

BIO

Elif Giray is a Turkish/Canadian, Toronto-based, self-taught abstract painter and collage artist. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, she studied Psychology at Concordia University before earning her Master’s of Social Work at the University of Toronto. While working as a therapist, Elif has remained deeply committed to her artistic practice, seeing art as both a personal and expressive pursuit.

Though largely self-taught, she has taken a few art classes over the years but learned primarily through hands-on exploration. Influenced by the Automatiste movement and abstract impressionism, she embraces experimentation, allowing spontaneity and intuition to guide her process.

She works with a range of mediums and techniques—primarily acrylics for her paintings, while her collages incorporate watercolor, vintage photographs, paint, paper, and pastels.

Her work explores themes of memory, relationships, the passage of time, and the ephemeral nature of life. By weaving together contrasting elements of color, texture, and movement, she strives to create a sense of balance and harmony, drawing the viewer into a richly layered world of meaning and emotion.

ARTIST CONTACT

EMAIL | WEBSITE

IMAGES