Interview with Anastasia Maria Gouvi

interview with Anastasia Maria Gouvi

A few words about myself

I am Anastasia Maria Gouvi, an emerging painter and a graduate of the School of Fine Arts in Florina. My work focuses on everyday experiences, memory, and identity, exploring the transformation of the human being through patterns, colours, and forms. I combine traditional materials, such as iconography powders, with contemporary artistic techniques, creating strong color contrasts and symbolic bridges between the past and the present. Each of my pieces invites the viewer into a personal and collective dialogue.

 

 

Inspiration sources:

My primary inspirations stem from everyday life and from ordinary people, their stories, their contradictions, and the small fragments of their experiences that often go unnoticed. My own personal memories and emotions also play a significant role, functioning as a starting point for a kind of painting that is both personal and collective.

 

In terms of style, my work aligns with Neo-Expressionism, street art, and Symbolism. Neo-Expressionism gives me the freedom of gesture and the immediacy of raw emotional expression. Street art connects me to the pulse of the urban environment and the directness of public visual language, while Symbolism allows me to hide and reveal meanings through shapes, numbers, and visual signs. In this way, each piece becomes a space where the personal meets the universal, and where painting becomes an ongoing dialogue between experiences, emotions, and symbols.

Materials you use:

The materials I use vary, with a primary focus on iconography pigments, which I apply in the manner of acrylic paint. At the same time, I experiment with different media such as fine liners, ink, and various materials, both in how they mix and in the way they interact on the surface of the work. Sometimes I incorporate additional elements, such as photographs or cut-outs, creating multilayered compositions and new textures.

 

Technique and style:

I usually work with mixed media techniques that incorporate numerous lines, symbols, overpainted elements, and expressive gestures. My process is multilayered, built through successive stages that combine different textures and materials. I merge figurative and abstract drawing, allowing them to coexist and interact, creating a visual language that is both narrative and expressive.

 

How do you define the end, the point of completion for each one of your artworks?

My works are a continuous process of layering. My aim is to create an aesthetic harmony between the empty spaces and the dense areas within each composition. I seek to present what I wish while also allowing the painting to ‘breathe’, to maintain its own autonomy and to resolve itself through balance

How important is the title of your work and how do you choose each title?

The artwork always comes before the title. The title is something that accompanies and enriches its meaning. For me, a title reveals the finished piece, it offers a subtle hint that guides but doesn’t confine. Each title represents what is depicted, while still leaving space for the viewer to bring in their own interpretations and personal meanings. In this way, the title becomes an opening for dialogue between the work and its audience.

Why did you choose art in your life?

Art for me is not just a form of expression, but a way of life. A creative person is always searching for a way to channel their artistic restlessness, and for me that path was painting. From the very first moment I painted, I felt that life kept offering me images, and I had the need, almost the obligation, to place them onto a surface. Painting became the most direct and authentic way for me to connect with myself and the world around me.

 

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