​
:the space [ ] where painting meets poetry
Inside this space, I become a visual storyteller with an acute need to touch, smell and curate what my senses dictate.
Shifting between pen and brush to unearth my reality in words and colours.
​
Expressing our undeniable freedom to move body and mind is the primary function of my art.
The act of painting, for me, is an experience in listening and obliging to the truths of my own body.
Anger or tension could mean big brush strokes or spilled ink.
The need to distance from the world could show up as undefined lines and distorted figures.
​
The process requires deep concentration and focus, often becoming a personal means of meditative therapy.
​
Long walks are a daily habit, a search for my next canvas, summoning inspiration from an old wardrobe, reimagining a broken table, or giving new life to a disheveled poster.
This ritual steeps my creative process in deconstruction, my muses allowing me to negotiate the interaction between their raw materials and my acrylics.
With such strong visual urges, it would seem paradoxical to express my creative impulses in words. However writing poetry came as a natural instinct.
​
Following the traditions of free-writing, letting words flow from a stream of consciousness to find me rather than chasing them, every piece has been written in a single sitting, avoiding revision or edit.
In this way, each poem captures a real moment in time, in its essence, and is created only when there is a true personal need for doing so.
​
The female element is present in all of my creations, but not always through the eyes of a woman, allowing my imagination to render me into a man, in love, a plant, or a smoke.
For me, the purpose of art is not purely selfish, but rather a way to reaffirm the power of creativity to the world at large.
As a means of letting emotions evolve through this journey of creation, one that culminates in healing.
My goal is to allow my art to leave the four walls, floor and ceiling of a studio, and become part of the reality outside of my own intention, ultimately enabling the piece to take on a life of its own.
​
Irinna Stefanidou.