Melis Buyruk and Her Porcelain SculpturesCEFR B1
8 Jan 2026
Adapted from Omid Memarian, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Rodrigo Castro, Unsplash
Turkish artist Melis Buyruk entered 2025 with two exhibitions that attracted international notice. Her shows—"Four Birds and One Soul" in the United Arab Emirates and "Because Some Things Are Still Beautiful," shown with a solo section by Leila Heller Gallery at Contemporary Istanbul—were praised for their poetic use of porcelain and their translation of myth and memory into sculpture.
Buyruk was born in Gölcük in 1984 and began formal ceramic study at Selçuk University in Konya in 2003. Over time she chose porcelain as her main material because of its precision, translucency and the demanding skill it requires. Her work links fine technique with symbolic meaning and often forms imagined ecosystems in a series called "Habitat."
Her process is labour-intensive and exacting: porcelain can crack or change in firing, and she has learned to manage those risks during studio work and time spent in Jingdezhen. Her work is now in significant collections, and she plans to expand colours and show the series globally.
Difficult words
- porcelain — a hard white ceramic material used for art
- exhibition — a public show of art or other objectsexhibitions
- translucency — a quality that lets some light pass through
- labour-intensive — needing a lot of time and physical work
- exacting — very demanding and needing careful work
- ecosystem — a community of living things and their environmentecosystems
- symbolic — representing ideas or meanings beyond direct appearance
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think Buyruk chose porcelain despite its risks and difficulty?
- Have you seen artworks made from porcelain or ceramics? What was your impression?
- What are the benefits for an artist of showing work in different countries?
Related articles
Ancestral healing in the Caribbean
Ancestral healing asks societies to face historical wounds so people can live healthier lives. In the Caribbean, educators combine shamanic practices, nervous-system work and cultural rituals with scientific findings about trauma and community care.
Culturally Wise Programs Help Women in Niger
A University of Michigan study published in PNAS finds that programs matching local values help women in rural Niger more than Western-style interventions. The research says social and psychological factors affect people’s ability to improve their lives.
