Thekla Papadopoulou

Thekla Papadopoulou, lives and works in Cyprus.

Her work, “Traces”, is a series that explores feminine identity through self-portraits and also through portraits of the men in her life and around her.

The artist’s work is mostly made by mixed media on canvas, photography, and collage- on canvas or on wood panel.

She is using oil paints and pastels combined with collage of pages from old sketchbooks, journals and photographs of herself and people who are close to her. The richly textured surfaces, that encompass the human figure, allude to the dynamics of unfettered motion and elusive power and capture a new reality. What is more, through this creative process, she tries to challenge and redefine the authenticity of the photographic work.  Thekla is using an original photograph, reproduces it and creates a new original work of art out of it, where the old parts are visible and distinguishable. However, despite the fact that she keeps part of the photographic quality of the picture, her intentions are not to replicate the past but to create a new image according to her current personal reality.