Biography
Seher Erdoğan (b. 1982, she/her) is a Turkish artist, architect, and educator based in Philadelphia. Her sculptural wall pieces combine clay and wool—materials that echo the material culture of her birthplace, Istanbul—and explore the interplay between structure and intuition.
She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Yale University, and practiced in New Haven and New York before shifting her focus to teaching and visual art. After years of experimentation across media, she began to concentrate on her current creative practice in 2019.
Seher has exhibited her work locally and produces commissions for private clients across the United States. She continues to teach architecture at University of Pennsylvania and works out of her studio in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood.
Artist Statement
My work explores the relationship between order and variation through clay, wool, and drawing. Rooted in the material culture of my birthplace, Turkey, I reinterpret motifs and geometric structures found in Anatolian textiles and architecture through contemporary abstraction. Each piece begins with a precise geometric framework that gradually shifts through repetition, carving, pattern, and subtle variation, allowing complexity to emerge through the making process. Trained as an architect, I approach geometry as a framework for exploration rather than a fixed order. Whether working in ceramic relief, felted wool, or oil pastel, I use repetition and variation to create works that invite close looking and reward sustained attention. Ultimately, I pursue beauty in forms that hold differences together.
All photos are taken by Kira Luxon, Finn Kassell Osborne or Seher Erdoğan.