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Contest 3 - Winner's Interview - Theodora Stougiannou





Please tell us about your journey as an artist.

I have always been an artist, taking art lesson since a young age, and studying various techniques; while I continued to create art throughout high school and university years, I didn’t really get into it until 2017/2018, and then once again around three years ago. The final time I got into my art again, I did because it was something that gave me hope, despite the personal circumstances of my life at the time; I would paint mostly night blue skies with glowing stars, because, like the light of the stars amidst a sea of darkness, so did my hope feel like barely hiding in the dark.

 

Ever since, I started to create landscapes with a touch of magical surrealism, and the dark blues gave way to more colour, something which happened subconsciously I think; however, when I look at the blue paintings I used to create back then, I realise it’s the years of struggle that I remember being most fond of looking back, because it was always just me against the world.   



What is your medium and why did you choose it?

I prefer to use acrylics along with watercolour and ink medium, for various reasons. While there are some practical considerations, with regards to ease of use, as both may be dissolved in water, there are additional reasons, mainly related to the types of realities I wish to create through my art. I love the flow the watercolours and the inks create, mixed with water, on the canvas, or on paper; that flow will continue on, always changing, always moving. On the other hand, the acrylics represent something more stable; in essence flowing paints with acrylics represent an interlude of land amidst a sea of beautiful colours.



What was the inspiration behind this work?

Main themes in my work include the transition between realities, the existence across multiple universes and timeframes, the flow of everything across all, the duality combined into one. The flow, which is always part of my visualization process, is best translated onto the canvas through the flowing fins of fish, or the flowing wings of anything I wish to portray. In this case, spirits, in the form of a flowing existence move from one universe to the other; the darkness gives way to the light, the nothing gives way to creation. I like to think of my art as surrealism, but with fantasy elements, the magic hiding in plain sight.







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