Serap Ekizler Sönmez

She graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Marmara University and worked for a time in the chemical industry as a quality control manager and operations manager. Alongside her professional career, she sustained her passion for painting, which began during her university years, and continued her artistic training for many years in the studios of İlhami Atalay and Erol Deneç. She operated her own studio-gallery for a period and participated in numerous national and international exhibitions.
She completed her master’s degree in the Department of Islamic History and Arts at Marmara University and earned her Ph.D. with high honors and a full scholarship from the Department of History at Yeditepe University. She currently continues her academic work as an assistant professor in the Architectural Restoration Program at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University.
She has occasionally taught as a visiting instructor at the UK-based King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and served as the IGP Program Director at the US-based Deen Arts Foundation, where she developed international projects. Thanks to the long-term online education program she designed, she has trained hundreds of students from around the world. For the past fifteen years, she has been working intensively to develop the field of Islamic geometric patterns in Türkiye, reaching students through various platforms. She also produces projects through the International School of Geometry and Art, which she founded. She has collected data on architectural works in Islamic countries and conducted research and studies in European museums. She has shared the results of her extensive research with both academics and artists through several published books, including Anadolu Selçuklu Sanatının Geometrik Dili [The Geometric Language of Anatolian Seljuk Art], Eskiz Defterimden Osmanlı Mimarisi [Ottoman Architecture from My Sketchbook], Geometric Patterns Workshop in the Footsteps of Sinan, and İslam Mimarisinde Hendesi Desenler: Topkapı Tomarı ve İslam Mimarisinde Geometrik Desenlere Külli Bakış [Geometric Patterns in Islamic Architecture: A Comprehensive View on Islamic Geometric Design and the Topkapi Scroll].