Digital and Design Artist
Xrista was born in 1974 in Nicosia, Cyprus. She is married and has two lovely children. She started dabbling in art from a very young age, and at school, she excelled in art and was awarded a prize for the highest grade in technical design and excellence in the History of Art. For the academic year 1993-1994, she was awarded a full scholarship from an Art University in Cyprus, in HND "Graphic Art and Advertising Design." Consequently, she followed her art passion in the UK. In 1997 she received her Bachelor of "Graphic and Media Design" from the University of the Arts London. Since then, she has been continuously informed on the new trends in contemporary art, and everything around her is an inspiration to her work. She worked at several Local Design Agencies. In the late 1999's, she started focusing on web designing, where she spent the last 18 years working as a web designer and developer at the biggest Telecommunication Authority Company in Cyprus.
Although family and work commitments prevailed, she managed to pursue her passion for art. Her art is a form of expression and an extension of her personality. Her creative mind never stops; Her imagination and love for the most minor and insignificant things in life inspire her work. She never focuses on specific art styles as she does not want to frame herself within a kind of technique and be more loyal to her feelings and imagination. Different mediums always allow her to express other ideas, and during research, new areas of interest arise and lead to her subsequent work. She sometimes uses subjects that will enable her to satisfy her obsession with colors and fantasy. "Sweet Dreams," a color drawing painting, was created with color markers, black ink, and acrylic paint. Within her art, somehow, She communicates that elusive sense of sheer joy. She loves illustrations, and every time she feels happy in her life, she creates art with colors and is full of imaginary images and objects. She is generally not too concerned with making a great deal of meaning beyond the aesthetic. Imagery is often borrowed from her life, sweet things around her and stuff that might evoke a sense of wonderment and ultimate fantasy.
In 2009, her passion for Digital Art and Fashion led her to draw digital works of art and transfer them to clothes of her creation through silkscreen and digital printing. This working method opened up opportunities using her talent in digital design, supporting charitable organizations in her country by designing a range of T-Shirts, scarves all contributing to providing proceeds for those in need.
In 2010, Xrista started to fuse life into a screen of which we percept as just another modern age piece of machinery; her perseverance and outlook on this is was described as "experimenting on the unique experiences and capabilities they offer," to Xrista Stavrou, it is just as the same as a black canvas. She always loves experimenting with different media and styles. The digital art "Perplexity," which received many awards and certifications, inspired her Scarf Collection 2018-2019. The working process accidentally created the composition of abstract playful forms, elements, textures, and bright warm colors. The results can be surprising even to Xrista. That's what makes abstract art so unique to her. It is produced from intense thought processes to amplify her fantasy and dreams of love, fashion, and beauty. The ability to express her creativity by creating a visual experience that is free and unencumbered by the weight of objects and always open to interpretation makes her enthusiastic about abstract art. Her goal is to inspire those who see her work more carefully and discover what emotions, sensations, or memories emerge. People are encouraged to discover the meaning behind her work by traveling around the art without expectation and looking at colors, styles, materials, surfaces, and how they interact.
In 2011 she was invited and collaborated with Etherial Rock' n' Roll Brand, where she managed the Clothing Line for almost six years. During that period, she had 2 Solo and 3 Group Fashion presentations and created her first "Digital Skull Queen" to inspire her T-Shirt Collection from 2013-2014. Skull Art Queen marked her art career. In 2015 She won various competitions and published her work in internationally well-known Books, Magazines, and Calendars. In 2016 Xrista was the subject of several Fashion Blogs and magazines.
Her work has been almost rooted in a personal mash-up of feelings and moments in the last fifteen years. Although there may not always be material similarities, her arts are linked by the richness of imagination and perfectionistic details. While she uses a variety of materials and processes in each design, her philosophy is consistent. 'Communication' with her audience is what she has in mind when she paints. She never has hidden messages, and she loves it when viewers express different emotional reactions and perceptions for each work. Xrista has won various competitions and had her name inserted in internationally well-known Books, Magazines, Calendars. Xrista's «Skull Art Queen» presented on the «Day of the Dead» Calendar 2016 by Amber Lotus Publishing. The art is available to view online Galleries, Saatchi Art and Artmajeur accordingly.
All her hard-working efforts finally paid off when chosen out of 50 other participants for the Cyprus Walk of Fame. A design contest where Xrista was awarded first prize for the "Visual Symbol of the Cyprus Walk of Fame," thanking those who voted and supported her on this; Xrista describes this life accomplishment as "an honor for those who offered," focusing on her main design for the competition, saying, "the crown is, among other things, a mark of honor." Xrista, although already digitally literate, conquers projects by promoting her work through her launched website www.xristastavrou.com, featuring past and present arts and collections. By continuously keeping her imagination alive and being able to create a type of 'pleasant deception' looking closely at Xrista' s designs, you will discover little angelical figured cubits or delicately shaded roses and faces, all of which fluidly evolve into surfacing what Xrista calls "experimentation with new media, a visual reality." A digital design artist whose work has always been connected by a richness of imagination and is not afraid to outlining her inspirations and feelings, demonstrating the workings of an erudite and passionate mind with a fantasy that conveys her pieces.
Articles about Xrista's works:
