The ethereal figures of Greek artist Georgia Theologou immediately challenge the viewer with their direct and unrelenting gaze. Mysterious, alluring, and often vulnerable, these women eschew their worldly selves, channeling instead the emotive power of their isolation as well as their sisterhood, their pleasure alongside pain. Intensely luminous, Georgia’s subjects morph to mimic the divine, recalling the mythos of her homeland. The Athens-based painter received her Masters from the Athens School of Fine Arts in 2021, and she’s participated in a number of exhibitions since in both her home city and London. Experience the celestial ascension of human fragility with June’s One to Watch.Tell us about who you are and what you do. What’s your background?My name is Georgia Theologou, and I’m a visual artist from Greece. I was born and raised in the industrial suburbs of Athens during the 1990s and early 2000s—a place that, despite its rawness, gave me a strong sensitivity to contrast and beauty. I’ve been drawn to art since I was four years old, when I first started experimenting with watercolor paints on paper. I studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts, and I now maintain an active studio practice in Athens.What does your work aim to say? What are the major themes you pursue in your work?My work explores themes of female empowerment, personal transformation, and spiritual emergence. I work primarily in oil, often depicting the female form. In my abstract series, I show the symbolic and emotional aspects of transformation. These paintings are not literal depictions of butterflies but rather energetic impressions of becoming. They often center around flowing, radiant forms that suggest movement, vulnerability, and transcendence. I create shimmering organic shapes that rise like wings or flames, referencing the shape of a butterfly.Can you walk us through your process for creating a work from beginning to end?When I paint figuratively, I usually begin with a very clear image in my mind. I know what I want to capture emotionally and visually, so I start by creating and gathering photo references to help ground that vision. But even with a strong concept, there’s always a moment in the process where I let go of the plan and allow the painting to take its own direction. When I work more abstractly, the process is much more spontaneous. I usually begin with loose, random shapes, without any fixed idea of the outcome. It’s a more instinctive and experimental process, guided less by vision and more by sensation.How do you hope viewers respond to your works? What do you want them to feel? I hope viewers experience a sense of beauty and a mirror of something deeper, like the human capacity to transform, to emerge from darkness, and to reconnect with the true self. I’m particularly drawn to the imago stage when the butterfly emerges in its final form. It’s a moment of lightness and freedom, but it comes after a long period of tension and inner change. So while I want viewers to be captivated by the ethereal colors, flowing lines, and luminous forms, I also hope they feel seen in their own moments of “becoming.”How does your work comment on current social and political issues?While my work is not overly political, it engages with themes that are socially and culturally relevant, like female empowerment, self-reclamation, and spiritual transformation. Through luminous depictions of the female form and abstract symbols of metamorphosis, I explore what it means to return to the true self and reconnect with the soul beyond roles, expectations, and societal noise. In that way, my work speaks to the broader issue of identity and the power of healing. I see personal transformation as a quiet form of resistance.Who are your biggest influences and why?My biggest influences come from books and paintings. Annie Besant has had a profound impact on the way I view the unseen dimensions of existence. Her writings on Theosophy and the spiritual structure of reality inspired me to explore energy, consciousness, and transformation through a visual language and to see painting not just as representation, but as revelation. Artistically, I’m deeply drawn to Agnes Pelton and Hilma af Klint. Both were women who painted inner worlds and spiritual visions, and their work resonates with me not only aesthetically but also in their use of symbolism and abstraction to express something higher and more eternal.Do you prefer to work with music or in silence?I’ve worked with music, in silence, and even with people around me. It depends on the energy of the day or the emotional space I’m in. But if I’m honest, I think I’m most connected to my work in silence. There’s something about the stillness that allows me to listen more closely, not just to the painting, but to myself. It becomes almost meditative.What was the best advice given to you as an artist?The best “advice” I received wasn’t framed as advice at all. One of my professors once told me, very directly, that some artists have it easy, and others will have to struggle. He wasn’t trying to discourage me, but rather to reflect the reality of the path ahead, especially given my background and the lack of certain privileges or connections. At the time, it was difficult to hear, but it turned out to be a gift. It grounded me. That comment made me reflect on why I create in the first place, and I realized that I would keep going no matter how hard it was.The post Georgia Theologou’s Divine Feminine appeared first on Canvas: A Blog By Saatchi Art.