Tell us about the highlights of your journey. What were the defining steps that brought you to where you are today?
I believe the most pivotal decision that led me to painting was choosing to pursue it at the age of 40, while leaving behind my previous role in advertising, which had been entirely technocratic in nature. Looking back, I realise that when you make the right decision for yourself, one step naturally follows another, until, at some point, you find yourself living the life you truly wanted.
Creativity is a fundamental part of your life. How did you discover the possibilities of artistic expression, how did the first idea emerge, and how has your journey in the art world unfolded?
My reconnection with painting came during my pregnancy with my son, when I decided to paint the walls of his nursery. I had not held a paintbrush since my teenage years, yet I will never forget how it felt. The sense of relief, the feeling of coming home to my love of art and painting. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a hope began to take shape, a faint dream that one day this might become my life.
Many years later, after numerous twists and turns and a great deal of effort, I established my first studio. From there, things gradually began to fall into place.
What do you most love doing, and how does the prospect of developing a new concept inspire you?
What fascinates me most is the conception of an idea. Developing a new project, exploring preliminary sketches and colour palettes, researching the essence of the subject I intend to depict and its symbolism. There is always a particular kind of magic at the beginning of a work.
Tell us about your upcoming exhibition. What stories does this new body of work tell?
In a few days, my new solo exhibition, The Major Arcana – A Contemporary Interpretation of the Tarot, opens at MOMus Art Café, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, within the TIF-HELEXPO grounds. The exhibition explores a more abstract, contemporary interpretation of the Major Arcana, the 22 archetypal figures of the Tarot deck.
Through my personal artistic language, these familiar Tarot figures are released from their traditional representations and given a new presence. Each card becomes a mirror, an invitation to personal introspection and an alternative way of reading oneself.
The exhibition opens on 30 October at 20:30 and runs until 15 November 2026.
What do you consider the key principles that guide your creative process, and what are your non-negotiable values?
With every subject I approach, every image, every form, I begin by identifying the elements that define it. I study the curves, the volumes, the light, the coincidences and the deviations. Then I consider the significance of every line, every surface, every detail, and begin to remove whatever feels excessive, whatever becomes too elaborate or simply unnecessary. My aim is always to retain only what is essential: the substance, the emotion, the lines that define the final result without weighing it down or overwhelming it. I keep only what has a genuine reason to exist and allow everything else to fall away. I believe this is, more broadly, the non-negotiable value that guides my life.
Having spent several years developing your practice, how do you feel your aesthetic has evolved?
My aesthetic is a reflection of my being and my inner world. From the complexity of photorealism, which marked the beginning of my journey in painting, to the abstraction of forms that has informed my work in recent years, every stage has been part of my evolution and the changes I have undergone, on a deeper level, whether consciously or unconsciously.
What do you consider your most meaningful achievements, your defining moments?
I wouldn’t say I have major achievements to list, but I have experienced many beautiful moments and built relationships with people I consider truly significant. They are my greatest treasures: an intangible wealth that is entirely my own.
What, and which people around you, help you move forward?
I feel blessed to be surrounded by so much love and care, and by people who inspire me and support me in tangible ways. From my immediate family to my extended family, there is always a place where I feel at home, where my ideas, energy and creativity are welcomed and nurtured.
What else is on the horizon for you?
Right now, I feel the need to savour the completion of my Major Arcana series and the upcoming exhibition, which have been my central focus for the past two years. Afterwards, I want to reflect on how this experience has reshaped me and explore how I can transform it into new art, new dreams and new goals.
What do you love, and what do you dislike, about the world you work in?
I love the act of creating and the joy it brings, the smell of paint, my brushes, the love and appreciation of people, the sense of fulfilment that comes with completing a project, experimentation, growth, and the moment when a creation is finally revealed to the eyes of the viewer. But the world I move in also has its backstage politics, cliques, the unavoidable demands of social media (a full-time job in itself!), clichéd distinctions and so much more that, unfortunately, has nothing to do with art—and should have nothing to do with it.
The best book you’ve read recently
The book I’m reading at the moment, and thoroughly enjoying, is Babylon Revisited by my favourite F. Scott Fitzgerald.
An object you would never want to part with
The chain my mother gave me, which I always wear around my wrist.
An artist whose work you love and would dream of owning
Owning any work by Jenny Saville would be a dream come true!
In another life, you would like to be…
Probably what I am now. I don’t know anything else as deeply, and I like what I know quite a lot.
Three places you love returning to, and why
My home, because it is my sanctuary; forests, because they are the only places where I truly find peace; and London, because it feels like family.
The museum and the artwork that stole your heart
The extraordinary, almost unimaginable works by Anselm Kiefer at Tate Gallery, during his 2014 retrospective.
Your own definition of beauty
Beauty lies in balance, laughter, unconditional love, generosity, radiant eyes and clear, honest gazes.
Have you ever designed anything for a home collection?
One of my professional ventures is the PHOS Collection, which I launched three years ago. It is a series of premium gifts that bring together contemporary minimalism and the understated aesthetic of some of the most iconic sculptures and archaeological finds of ancient Greece. The collection ranges from plexiglass art objects and signed replicas to coffee-table notebooks and collectible, signed framed pieces, designed for homes and spaces shaped by an appreciation of aesthetics and contemporary design.
What do you consider authentic in our time?
Holidays without a mobile phone, childhood friendships, home-cooked food, smiles from strangers in the street, open-air cinema, courtesy, kindness and spontaneous, wholehearted laughter.
Photography: Sakis Youmpasis
