Zehra Ocal is a Turkish/British artist born in Turkey. As an immigrant artist she has experienced displacement firsthand — a dislocation that profoundly informs her work. Her paintings explore space as an unfamiliar territory — first as empty space, then through the presence of the figure within it, and ultimately the evolving relationship between the two. She investigates how a figure navigates this space, carves out its own territory, and what emerges from that interaction. Foreground and background are not fixed; instead, they compete and converse, shaping the larger picture. 

Figures occupy this “between space,” a dimension where time and place dissolve. The absence of clear spatial markers reflects a visual displacement, her work seeks to develop a visual language that captures this dynamic.

She believes in a world marked by fragmentation, forced migration, conflict, war and division, the notion of a unified, harmonious surface feels inadequate. Her paintings are an attempt to challenge that very idea. They’re not about creating balance or a pleasing composition but about disrupting it. The surface becomes a contested ground where space, figure, and background fight for their place. It’s not a safe space — it’s tense, and alive with contradiction. This unrest keeps the work immediate and raw. Embodying the unresolved nature of displacement itself.