Sophia Paraskevopoulou was born in 1982 in Athens in Greece. She entered the magical world of painting because of her father, who is a painter and dental technician. Sophia was acquainted with different kind of mediums and techniques when, during her childhood, her father used to give her watercolours, pencils and paper on the kitchen table and challenged her to explore her imagination and creativity as well. That period was almost a rite of passage which cultivated Sophia’s need for expression and sealed her profound love for painting. In the course of her first degree in mechanical engineering she realized, once again, her passion and fervor for art and, in particular, painting; she was going to be an artist. Sophia studied in ASFA from 2004 until 2009 where she was taught painting and engraving. In her new, intriguing environment she created long scale artworks on canvas and wood, using acrylics.
The protagonists in Sophia’s dark and ominous visual arrangements are always unsmiling girls and women with big eyes and big hands, depicting childhood and its lost innocence, as well as constant struggle for existence. The themes and scenes in Sophia’s artwork are influenced by great painters as Turner and Caravaggio, dark art, legends and folktales from around the world, manga, videogames and her preferred metal music.
The turning point in Sophia’s life, both personal and artistic, was her pregnancy in 2015 when she had to stay at home for a long period. For lack of space, in combination with Sophia’s abiding tendency to convey her imaginary world, she moved towards sculpting and started experimenting with a range of mediums and techniques in order to discover alternative means of expression. That was love at first sight. Since then, she has been making sculptures with polymer clay, wire, acrylics and hardboards with handmade wooden frames, so as to introduce us in her new life.
Sophia has, through the years, participated three times in ArtAthina (International Contemporary Art Fair of Athens) and has won in a poster competition for the International Short Film Festival in Drama in 2017. Currently, she works as an illustrator for children’s and teen’s books.
Sophia lives and works in Athens growing up with her 5-year old daughter.