Art & BeyondArt & Beyond

Pictures

Thinking in pictures

Some minds do not think in words first. Autistic children often draw what words cannot carry — a feeling, a question, a whole world — starting from a single word. This page gathers those drawings: pictures made through words, by children who show us that connection does not always begin with language.

“I think in pictures. Words are like a second language to me.”
Temple Grandin — Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism (1995)

Grandin, a scientist and one of the most well-known autistic voices in the world, describes her mind as a library of images: when she hears a word, she does not hear it — she sees it. For her, spoken and written words must be translated into pictures before they mean anything. The drawings below come from children who work the same way: the word arrives first, and the picture carries it the rest of the way.

Words, drawn — Çizilmiş Kelimeler

Each drawing in this gallery began as a word — and came back as a picture. These works were drawn by autistic children aged 8–12 at the Yaşam Atölyesi Special Education and Rehabilitation Centre, and appear in the “Çizilmiş Kelimeler” (Drawn Words) chapter of Belmin Dumlu Savaskan’s book Kanatlarımızda Gökyüzü. Each hangs here with the title its young artist gave it.

Masal Kahramanım
Masal Kahramanım
Annem ile Ben
Annem ile Ben
En Sevdiğim Oyuncak
En Sevdiğim Oyuncak
Mutluluk Ablam
Mutluluk Ablam
Kalbim Müzik Bana Ne Der
Kalbim Müzik Bana Ne Der
Kanatlarım
Kanatlarım
Bir Kuş Olsaydım
Bir Kuş Olsaydım
Benim Uzayım
Benim Uzayım
Yüreğimdeki Köşk
Yüreğimdeki Köşk
Gökyüzü
Gökyüzü
Çocukken Oyunlarım
Çocukken Oyunlarım
En Yakın Arkadaşım
En Yakın Arkadaşım

Ten painters who shaped the 20th century

The 20th century transformed the meaning of art: painters moved beyond realistic representation to explore emotion, identity, dreams, abstraction and popular culture. This shelf — adapted from an educational series by Desizn Circle — gathers ten who helped redefine visual culture. Painting is not one technique or aesthetic; it can question reality, carry emotion and change how we see the world.

Desizn Circle — 10 painters who shaped the 20th century
Poster by Desizn Circle — “10 painters who shaped the 20th century”

01

Pablo Picasso

Fractured conventional perspectives through Cubism.

02

Henri Matisse

Created freedom and emotion through expressive colour.

03

Salvador Dalí

Transformed dreams and the subconscious into surreal worlds.

04

Frida Kahlo

Painted powerful stories of identity, pain and resilience.

05

Wassily Kandinsky

Explored colour and form as a visual language of emotion.

06

Georgia O'Keeffe

Found monumentality in flowers, landscapes and natural forms.

07

René Magritte

Challenged reality through mysterious, thought-provoking images.

08

Jackson Pollock

Turned movement and spontaneity into Abstract Expressionism.

09

Andy Warhol

Blurred the boundaries between art, advertising and popular culture.

10

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Combined raw expression, identity, anatomy and social commentary.

What does a word look like to you?

If a word becomes a picture in your mind too — a colour, a shape, a place — the salon would love to hear what you see.