Location: Cyprus
Rafaella Christoforou born in Cyprus in 1991, she studied BA (Hons) Fine Arts at University for the Creative Arts, before gaining her MA Curatorial Practice at UCA, where she has awarded with a scholarship. In 2014 Rafaella, became an ICR Recreate Scholar of the UK and France. She has exhibited and curate group and solo exhibitions internationally such as Cyprus, United Kingdom, France, Dubai, Greece, New York, Spain, Austria etc. Rafaella worked as an Academic Fine Arts Tutor at a college in Cyprus after finishing her studies. From 2017 since today she is the Fine Art Tutor and Creative Director of the Atelier of Arts in Cyprus.
Rafaella’s creative background founded mostly, in contemporary art, some of her artworks can create a dialogue between conceptual, abstract and surreal art. Much of her works and exhibitions has a major discussion an exploration of the textual language in art both written and metaphorically. In both content and process of her art, is interested in the trouble and misunderstanding of language. The artist tends to paint the feeling of writing and the emotion of a letter by hand; she is focusing in the process of writing as much in the genesis of the new sometimes ‘creature’ but sometimes unknown. The artist works in the mediums of drawing, painting, sculpture, metalwork, textual language, calligraphy, poetry although her artworks have spanned a variety of alternative media’s including film, live performances, 3D steel installations, kinetic installations, video art.
I am blessed with the letters of an alphabet and I am the mother of Alfarale. As someone said at this stage of her career, this is her greatest and more authentic obsession in which the artist has. I paint and I recreate everything with it!
Through the 'abstr-ACT' merging of my letters throughout my poetic alphabet named as Alfarale, the most suitable anagramatism that my name has and can describe better my poetic artworks. I recreate the objects I see, sometimes will be considered as portraitures, figurative, organic, writings, poetics, another, abstract, surreal, but truly realistic through the authentic gesture I hold into my hand and I feel for the language, I call this realism. I tend to paint the feeling of writing and the emotion of the letter by hand, focusing in the process of writing as much in the genesis of the new...
"[Eye] *uck you Covid-19", 2020. Oil on Canvas, 100 x 120 cm.
It is a constant feeling, an emotion a headache, a sick situation, a war, a challenge with all the translations that have been said and ‘explained’ at this point for a ‘word’ Covid-19. I call this as [Eye] *uck you Covid-19 literary, and these are the authentic and more realistic words I can share with the world at this moment. Through the autonomous anagrammatise and blending of the oily black letters, which are words of different emotions, the creature is standing out. This, can be seen in the [blink] of your eyes accompanied with vibrant, fleshy, nude but the same time, bold and faded colours. The ‘defined’ but mysterious eye; creates an enormous feeling of a monster, a creature, a human being, although the ‘reflection’ directly goes to the viewer. The ‘eggy’ shape you may see, symbolising the new, perhaps the life through the yellow light that comes now. While you are focusing now, I am challenging you to focus to the point where your eyes get [blurred] and with the eyes of a new now, perhaps you could of seeing the human skull…
!["[S]he Reborn", 2020. Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm](https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/artavita/photos/2022/10/142808/medium/reborn-oils-on-canvas-2020-bigger-size-.jpg)
“"[S]he Reborn", 2020. Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm”
[S]he is rising up and focusing
There is a sharp, bold, oily line,
It could be the road it could be the point that I am searching.
I grew up from my womb I reborn,
I see clearly now
I am living in my blank space.
“"Homiletic Woman", 2021. Oil on Canvas, 90 x 70cm”
A written story and another hidden poetry, creates the being, and there, she arrives the ‘Homiletic Woman’, she has arisen and is looking ahead, moving and focusing, spontaneously, made out of letters. A bold poetry wearing her hat, an organic and giant, with shades of purple, red, yellow and it’s endless as the small light circle, swirling into and going, but where is it going; Where you want to go with this enormous hat; The woman is whispering and two defined words coming out of her mouth; ‘I a m’, that symbolise the power and her importance. The light blue -purple shadow, in the middle of the canvas, inside her, inside the egg shape drowning but swimming into the tides of the ‘fishy’ (for you) letters and ocean colours, she sees now with the eyes of a new. She is holding with her hand, the ‘Homiletic Woman’, is her protector. The Homiletic Woman continuingly speaks with her gestures; you could examine the signs and the objects she brings within her journey of existence…
“"Inside the Shadow", 2020. Oil on Canvas, 80 x 100 cm”
Deep Inside the poetry, there is a genesis
And there is another Hidden Poetry!
Inside the light, the light of the sun
Something is hiding…
There is a ‘Shadow’ of a woman,
Sometimes (s)he is looking at you
But is still shine
She is growing and rising up,
Blending and tangling with herself
Always into the black oily letters and in her innocent place…
“Eye @uck you Covid 19”
