Interview with: Sofianna Lekou
February 2021
Welcome Sofianna, I would like to start this interview from the beginning, do you remember which artist or which artwork moved something inside you when you were a child?
The truth is that as I was growing up I didn't have a specific favourite painter or artist to admire. I remember doing collages and painting a lot, even my hands or my face quite often. I used to visit the Children’s Art Museum and have bried painting lessons about colors in slides shows. One more strong memory is me sitting in the big desk of a family friend who is an artist (Sofia Fortwma) and being exciting with the colors and paintbrushes and the big papers ready to be painted. Now as I got older I found my inspiration through cubism, surealism, Bauhaus and their representatives, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Kadinsky and mostly I admire contemporary artists as J. Michael Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Max Ernst and many others..
And then? how have your approach and references changed growing up?
I always liked cubism, lines, shapes and the idea of visual illusions that an image can create. I like painting mostly with markers because they somehow function as a guide for my idea. They give a stable, clear color that satisfy me. I have tried also other painting tools as tempera,charcoal, pencil and other mixed media ( digital media, photoshop, digital painting).I even use numbers as a basic element in some works. I enjoyed it but in this time, I turn back to my rulers and markers.
Usually each artist has a different modus operandi, what is yours? how did your projects start and how do they develop?
My “modus operandi” is simple. I like painting all alone, mostly in my desk with neither music, nor friends around. I don’t know if it is a bad or a good thing but when I start to paint something I cannot do anything else until it’s finished. Even if I am tired or hungry or anything else I cannot leave it uncompleted. I am continually thinking about colors and shapes so I am trying to get inspired by everything I can. I most of the time write down, or paint, videotape or even record my idea in order to not restrict my way of being creative.
What function do you attribute to your works and why?
I want my pieces of work to continually be enriched with new ideas and perspectives. This is what I want my work to declare. I begin with something simple as empty shapes and forms and then they get filled with lines and colors. The history of art and the everyday life is full of creative tools so anything can happen!
We are at the end of this short interview, would you like to add something about your research and your art that has not emerged previously?
I want for someone to see what I see and what I feel through my artwork.Of course everybody is free to feel and see something different, art gives this opportunity. But I also like that art is a way for someone to communicate their vision. Through art arises the chance to meet a different point of view and get to know something new. Art is not about egos but about sharing and communication ideas and visions. Art can be surrealistic but to my perspective should also expressing today’s era. I always try to learn and get inspired from older, classic and of course new artists and become not better but more creative.