Nilgün Gencer was born in Istanbul. She attended Süheyl Ünver’s Traditional Turkish Arts Workshop at the Medical History Department between 1970-1978. Gencer took miniature classes from Azade Akar, Melek Antel, Cahide Keskiner and Ülker Erke, and completed her training at the Turkish Decorative Arts Training Center in 1976. She worked as the art manager of a touristic hotel in Antalya between 1989-1992, gave miniature classes and organized events to publicize the art of miniature. Her miniatures that depict the historical and cultural characteristics of the cities of Turkey were printed as postcards by Turkey Family Health Planning Foundation in 2005. Her works are in various public collections, including Atatürk Museum and Press Museum, and in private collections both in Turkey and abroad. She held seventeen personal exhibitions and participated in one hundred and forty group exhibitions. Gencer has been giving miniature classes at Mimsanat Academy since 2012.