Introducing myself. Part one: Sophilia

It has always been hard for me to talk about myself, so I will keep this short: I am Alina Iftime, a visual artist who likes to play with different materials and techniques, including pencils, oil paints, clay, wood or metal.

I chose to make my first post about my main character, my alter-ego, Sophilia, her various avatars, and her world. Sophilia is the visual expression of my inner self, and the art you will see here is made while exploring the different layers of my mind, from diving deep into the unconscious, to experiencing the most ephemeral sensations.

A metaphysical being living at the edge of the reality, Sophilia has a myriad of avatars, each one a visual metaphor of my feelings, struggles or visions. Her world is made up of her thoughts and feelings, materialized into intricate shapes or eerie landscapes, placed into that parallel space and time inhabited by both my depression and my dreams.

My works usually begin with a vague image, a vision that appears suddenly in my mind, and whose meaning I usually do not understand until after the work is finished. Sometimes new ideas appear along the way and ask for a place in the work, and I usually listen to them. Here is my latest work in progress, the first image is how the original idea looked like, and the second one is taken after I sketched the new ideas. There are still a lot of layers who are waiting to be added:

But sometimes my depression takes over. During these days, or weeks, I usually can not draw or paint. Everything I do and everything I've ever done becomes suddenly worthless and Sophilia seems like a stupid idea. For those days I have a Dark Sketchbook. I will talk about it in my next post.

Take care and be creative!
Virtual hugs,
Alina