Selected Works
Every scale once belonged to a living creature.
The Artist
A painter who found the canvas too narrow.
Nedim Çelkan (April 1, 1945, Istanbul – January 8, 2025, Muğla) was a Turkish artist and diver known for works made from marine life.
Mythology and marine culture occupy a central place in Çelkan's practice. His compositions frequently feature mermaids, mythological heroes, references to Neptune and Poseidon, Native American warriors, Egyptian figures, fish-human hybrids, and underwater scenes. Fish skins, crab legs, sea urchins, flying gurnard wings, and moray and scorpionfish skins become armor, garments, or the bodies of fantastical beings.
“I can no longer dive, but my works still do.”
The Process
An art of patience. An art of devotion.
01
Gathered by hand
Over nearly sixty years of active diving, he personally collected fish, octopus, sea urchins, crabs, starfish, seaweed, and shells from the depths.
02
Treated and tanned
Each material underwent special chemical treatment, tanning and controlled preservation. No fabric, silicone, resin or artificial pigment.
03
Years of waiting
“Some materials required ten years of waiting; others twenty.”
04
Transformed
“The sky may be the underside of a sole fish, armor becomes moray skin, and the arm of a warrior may well come from a crab.”
Artistic Journey
A life spent going deeper.
1945
Born in Istanbul, Turkey (April 1).
1960s
Begins diving as a young man; develops a lifelong fascination with marine life.
1960s – 1970s
Works as a cinema poster painter, print-house illustrator, and comic-book artist.
Early 1980s
Turns entirely toward the sea as his primary artistic source; begins collecting marine materials during dives.
Mid 1980s
Creates his first reliefs using real fish skins, shells, seaweed, and marine fragments.
1990s – 2000s
Establishes his signature visual language combining mythology and marine biology. Exhibits widely across Turkey, including in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, and Antalya (approximately 95 exhibitions).
2010s
Continues producing large-scale reliefs and sculptural hybrid figures; refines long-term preservation techniques for organic materials.
Late 2010s – 2020s
Lives and works in Datça, Muğla, preserving his oeuvre.
2025
Dies in Datça, Muğla, on January 8, at the age of 79.
Featured Collection
Legacy of Nedim Çelkan
Exhibitions & Legacy
Preserved, for the world to see.
By his own account, he never sold a work. The oeuvre is being documented for an international audience for the first time.
- exhibitions across Turkey
- ~95
- years of active diving
- ~60
Istanbul · Ankara · Izmir · Adana · Antalya
Exhibition archiveJournal & Press
On the record.
All press
Private Viewing
For galleries, museums, and collectors.
Selected works, additional photography, and documentation, shared in a personal, password-protected room.