Sofia Stevi is an artist who is interested in opposites; in living but also dreaming. Her paintings convey a simultaneous sense of passively observing and actively experiencing different spaces. The spaces in question are often confused yet domestic, and might fuse indoor and outdoor elements, or sexual symbols and psychedelic patterns. Gravity and perspective are largely lost, re enacting a sense of moving through unrestricted space and time.
For her exhibition and residency in Celerina, Stevi used ink and watercolours to produce a series of large-scale paintings on untreated cotton fabric, and small drawings on paper. The paintings form an installation that becomes a unique sea of colour, with semi transparency confronting calligraphic black lines. The iconography of these new paintings grew from sights that became routine, but never wholly familiar, to the artist on her daily walks in the Alpine forests during her residency; these can be read as mushrooms, slugs, trees and bones, while taking on an anthropomorphic and often sensual dimension. The narrative is by turns bizarre, foreboding and witty, while remaining largely unreadable.
Sofia Stevi was artist in residence in Celerina From July to August 2016. The artist continued working on her residency through the duration of the exhibition, adding and removing works, thus creating an exhibition concept that is fluid and experimental, and an excerise in both making and presenting.