Interview: Fatma Kadir, In Memory of Flaco

1. Tell us about your journey to becoming a world-renowned avian oil painter

I studied art with a master’s degree in sculpture at Yeditepe University with Teymur Ryzayev, Azerbaijan’s state artist, who is also a Hermitage Museum Gold Medalist. I am still working towards getting a PHD. 

Parallel to my art studies, I have been exhibiting my avian oil paintings via my gallery, Pinelo Art Gallery, in several museums around the world, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, to draw attention to the importance of air and water pollution on bird life.

My avian artwork began winning art contests globally during COVID-19, believe it or not.    “Ravens – Four Seasons,” which I painted after watching a family of crows outside my window while recovering from an illness, won first prize at the nature art competition at Connemara National Park – Páirc Náisiúnta Chonamara in Ireland. The same year, my Bird Watching 1 & 2 series was selected and distributed via social media by the Biodiversity Department of the Department of Culture, Heritage, and Gaeltacht of Ireland on Biodiversity Day on May 22, 2020.  Finally, my “Maskuary” painting of my husband was selected as a cover by Tired Earth Magazine and was featured in London Climate Action Week as well.

2. When and how did you transition to exhibiting locally in Istanbul to internationally?

I have been exhibiting my work for some time through Pinelo Art Gallery. At the end of 2019, I exhibited my work in Miami, FL, via Pinelo Art Gallery with painter Rana Balkis.   In 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic during lock down a friend from the atelier Selva Ozelli  Esq, CPA, Artist and Author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally who is the cousin of Rana curated a group art show with ten artists from our atelier which was originally going to be shown at the Balat Culture Center in Istanbul.  But with the lockdowns, our group art show at Balat Culture Center was cancelled. My gallerist, Cem Ustuner of  Pinelo Art Gallery, prepared a video of our group art show titled “Atelier Teymur Rzayev’s First Digital Climate Change Art Show,” which was shown at the world’s first climate change museum, CUHK Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change in Hong Kong during world environment day on June 5, 2020 instead.

From 2020 to 2021, I exhibited in numerous global museums, United Nations Conferences, including COP26, and NGOs.

3. Have you exhibited at the United Nations?

Since 2020, my work has been selected for exhibition at several United Nations Conferences, including COP26, COP28,  several World Migratory Bird Days (here and here), and World Oceans Day events.

This year, my art show titled “Melting Age” with award-winning photographer and filmmaker Alfons Rodriguez was featured at the United Nations during the inaugural World Glaciers Day event that was broadcast on a Times Square Jumbotron as well.

4. Tell us about your art exhibitions in the United States

I began exhibiting in the United States in 2019 in Miami. In 2023, I held an art show at Havre de Grace Maritime Museum titled “Water Bird Watching”. In 2024, I joined the “Pink and Blue” group art show consisting of 11 artists, oil painters, and photographers-- from 6 different countries at Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY. 

5. Tell us about the art projects you have been working on this year

This year was a very busy exhibition year. I started in March, with the “Melting Age” art show with Photographer and filmmaker Alfons Rodriguez at the National Lighthouse Museum and the United Nations during the inaugural World Glaciers Day celebrated on March 21, 2025, jointly with World Water Day. The day highlighted the crucial role of glaciers in global water resources and the urgent need for action to protect them from the impacts of climate change. This inaugural event was part of the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation 2025. 

During April, I took part in the “Our Power Our Planet Art Show,” which was featured in 3 countries and 11 culture institutions, including but not limited to the Lord Howe Island Museum, Morton Memorial Library, the Queens Botanical Garden Climate Art Festival, among others.

During May, I took part in the “Stories of City Birds” art show, which the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum featured, and the National Lighthouse Museum.

During June, the “Melting Age” Art Show with Alfons Rodriguez and Selva Ozelli moved to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and was a London Climate Action Week event.  It is also registered as an International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies event.

During July and August, I am taking part in the “I Love New York” art show at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, NY (CHAC). This art show celebrates NY for being the place where the US environmental movement began and where I am for the first time, featuring my three paintings of Flaco, the male Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped his long-time enclosure at Central Park Zoo in New York City after someone cut the protective netting in February 2023.

Flaco subsequently resided in and around Central Park. His escape attracted significant public and press attention even in Turkiye, especially as he was of a species not native to North America. There were concerns for his ability to feed himself after being captive for so long, since he had not previously needed to fly or hunt, but he was seen successfully catching and eating rats a week after his escape. Attempts to recapture Flaco failed, and a petition circulated advocating that he remains free. Zoo officials ceased attempts to recapture him once it became clear he was eating on a regular basis and his flying skills improved.  In February 2024, one year after his escape, Flaco died after colliding with a building in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

I am also presenting three paintings of the first American flamingos of New York. Last summer, several American flamingo sightings have occurred on Long Island, specifically in the East Hampton area. The sightings, which are unusual for the area, are believed to be related to potential displacement from Hurricane Idalia. One flamingo was spotted at Georgica Pond, which has been considered the first-ever American flamingo in New York.  

Finally, I am exhibiting two versions of the Statue of Liberty to celebrate USA250.  The avian version of Lady Liberty is expressed as a compilation of birds, including Flaco the Asiatic owl, and also the first  American flamingos of New York. 

The second version of Lady Liberty is expressed as a compilation of women’s portraits, including several self-portraits and portraits of my daughter. It is of the First Statue of Liberty Proposal for the entry of the Suez Canal that France submitted to the Ottoman Empire, which rejected the female statue holding a light designed by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. This design did not have the Lady holding the law tablet, or the crown on her head, or her walking. Her right foot is not lifted. Around her feet are no broken chains, symbolizing liberation. The Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. 

When an empire collapses, it often leads to a significant decline in technological advancement and a shift in artistic expression, as the centralized power and resources needed to sustain innovation and artistic patronage diminish.  However, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire gave way to the establishment of the Turkish Republic, with women gaining legal rights ahead of many Western countries. In my master’s dissertation titled “The Female Artists of Early Turkish Republic,” and with my second Lady Liberty painting adorned by self-portraits, I explored the theme of women’s rights.

6. What are your future plans?

With the support of great institutions, which I am grateful for, I would like to continue painting bird series and exhibit them globally to spread the message that we need to control air and water pollution to protect our birds.

7. How can people reach you and find out more about what you are working on?

Email:  ftmkadir@gmail.com
Galleries:  Ro Gallery NYC, HMVC Gallery NYC, Pinelo Art Gallery

Auction House:  BankCosta Auction House