Artist Statement

Using art history as an iconographic treasure trove, rethinking it anachronistically, and reflecting on the histories of the body are key elements of my artistic practice. Eastern and Western European imagery, such as Greco-Roman mythology, Christian-Orthodox iconography, historical paintings, and depictions of female figures are constituent parts of my visual language. By reappropriating archetypes like the muse, the goddess, the mother, the temptress, and the witch, my works illustrate and reclaim female power within its long history of oppression. In this context, I ask: why depict the body today, and most importantly, how? I explore the enduring significance of the body in contemporary art, reflect on female identities and address broader themes such as physicality, sensuality, sexuality, pain, trauma, and healing. Drawing from personal and collective experience, my work seeks to answer the question: how does it feel to be in one’s body? This allows an exploration into the passed-down heritage that shapes the present-day collective psyche.

A further interest in my artistic practice is the obsessive relationship between art and beauty. Within my work, vulnerability becomes a catalyst for liberation, allowing motifs and ideas of beauty to transcend their oppressive origins.

Combining various timelines and cultural contexts in the form of figurative painting is the core method of my artistic practice. My painterly language consists of a complex web of art historical references such as Symbolism, Feminist Avant-Garde, Baroque and Renaissance painting, Expressionism, Fauvism, and Eastern European art. Merging painting with sculpture, installation and etching, the figures on metal and canvas become infused with a fiery intensity yet juxtaposed with a palpable sense of tenderness. Through the use of techniques inspired by classical and modern approaches, the art historical female figure is bewitched and bestowed with a new form of meaning.