Born on 21 March 1967 in Kadıköy, Istanbul, Çiğdem Kabadayı graduated from Kadıköy Girls' High School in 1984. The artist, who continued her art education at Marmara University Atatürk Faculty of Education, Department of Painting, Art Major of Textile Design, worked as a painting teacher at primary education level for a while after her graduation in 1988.
In 2003, Kabadayı met miniature art and received four years of training at the workshop of Harika Yazıcı. In this process, her interest in traditional arts deepened and she turned to specialise in illumination and miniature arts. Between 2007-2008, she studied illumination with Jale Yavuz at Süheyl Ünver Miniature Workshop (Nakkaşhane) of Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty. In 2009, she successfully completed her three-year education at Yıldız Şale Turkish Decorative Arts Training Unit within the National Palaces Department of the Grand National Assembly (TBMM) of Türkiye.
She graduated from Taner Alakuş's project class at ISMEK Bağlarbaşı Specialisation Centre in 2012 and was awarded the title of "Artist of Ministry of Culture" in 2013. She participated in many exhibitions in Türkiye and abroad in order to contribute to the survival of traditional arts. Among these exhibitions, the exhibition "In the Footsteps of the Masters" (“Ustaların İzinde”) held at Dolmabahçe Art Gallery in 2012 and the group exhibition "Alla Corte Di Zeugma" held at Gallery Vista in Rome in 2013 are noteworthy.
In 2016, the artist established Çiğdem Kabadayı Art Workshop, which bears her own name, and started to give miniature and painting lessons, and organised various workshops and seminars in order to introduce traditional arts to a wider audience. These include a five-day art workshop at the Mardin Youth Centre in 2019 and a 10-day workshop at the Istanbul Airport International Terminal organised by the Ministry of Culture.
The artist is still continuing her education studies in her own workshop and her works are included in many local and foreign collections. She has become a respected artist in the art world with her contributions to traditional Turkish arts.
