Born in Istanbul, Nihan Basak is a Toronto based artist coming from a long line of classical painters.

After studying architecture, she moved to Holland and worked for a large international architectural firm. From there she moved to, and settled in Toronto.

During her travels, she filled in countless sketch books, made collages, took pictures, painted and produced three dimensional pieces from everyday objects.

From 1990 on she started to show her sketches and paintings to friends. Some of her early work includes animations and illustrations for two children’s books. Nihan participated in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 1988. Nihan also worked with an animation studio for two years producing educational programs for children’s TV and an animated music video for a rock band.

Nihan started a design studio in 1995 producing furniture inspired by comic books and pop culture. In 2000 she won an award at Idee international design competition in Japan.

Today Nihan produces paintings and sculptures that are about emotional landscapes in abstract and representational styles. Her work can be found in private collections in France, Holland, Germany, Japan and the United States.

She continues to work in the field of architecture and design and paints everyday.