Olgu Sümengen Berker

Olgu Sümengen Berker (b. 1978, Isparta, Turkey) is an artist based in Gangelt, Germany, who works in ceramics. Her subjects are home, homeland, belonging, distance and strangeness, drawn from life in another country. She hand-builds figures in porcelain, paper porcelain, black porcelain, stoneware and black clay. Their surfaces carry decal and transfer prints, glazes, gold lustre and slips, and some use kintsugi.

Sayfa 4 (2021) lies on the floor, its back printed in red with branches and map lines. Sayfa 17 (2021) is Limoges porcelain with gold and dark kintsugi lines and incised handwritten texts. İç Işık (2025) is a porcelain figure lit from inside, its light passing through bent knees and folded arms. In Eve Dönüş (2026), 14 sculptures turn Anatolian mother goddess figures into personal readings of the female body. Altın sayfa 4 (2026) is a seated stoneware figure with hands raised above the head. Geçmiş 1 (2026) stands upright in vertical strips of turquoise glaze. She treats the figures as diary pages, drawing on photographs, route maps and short notes.

She took a BA and an MA in ceramics at Anadolu University and the Proficiency in Art at Hacettepe University. She taught at Afyon Kocatepe University (2002 to 2004) and Çankaya University (2004 to 2017), and became an associate professor in 2017. She teaches at the Arts and Craft Center, NATO Joint Force Headquarters, Brunssum. Solo shows include Başak Sigorta Sanat Galerisi, Ankara (2004), İş Bankası Sanat Galerisi, İzmir (2006), and Bahariye Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul (2012). She also showed solo at Aysel Gözübüyük Sanat Galerisi, Ankara (2007 and 2012), and Galeri Soyut, Ankara (2024 and 2026). She received the Jury Special Award at the 68th State Ceramics Competition (2007) and a Gold Plaque at MIKS 21, Croatia (2021). Her memberships include the International Academy of Ceramics.