Sophia Xeros-Constantinides has been passionate about art since childhood. However, circumstances led her to pursue a career in medicine before finally being able to pursue her love of art. She explored botanical art with Diane Emery at the Botanical Gardens before enrolling in formal studies in Fine Art at Monash University, Caulfield. While there, she studied figurative and abstract painting and drawing, despite resistance from some tutors who believed that painting was dead.

Sophia was awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award in 2002 and began her Masters and PhD studies at Monash. Her postgraduate art-making was feminist in its orientation and inspired by her clinical work with new mothers and babies. In her PhD studio work, Sophia re-fashioned depictions of pregnant and birthing women using collage as a metaphor for the “un-doingness” of maternity. She continued her painting practice and made prints, including collagraph, soft-ground etchings, and photo-etchings.

After submitting her PhD in 2016, Sophia increasingly turned her hand to painting with gouache and oils and making watercolour monotype prints. She participated in the London Slade Summer School Painting programme, recommended by painter Andy Pankhurst for three years, which was a most enriching creative experience. In 2020, with the programme suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sophia joined Zoom Art Classes with Israeli painter Rubin Amir. She worked with a group of creatives to revisit Master-painters’ works, reinvigorate their craft, and create their interpretations in paint.

Sophia believes that painting is another way of keeping a diary. Her transcription paintings of Guido Reni and Titian are evidence of her continued exploration and evolution as an artist.

The artist’s career is reaching a turning point, and Queenscliff Gallery is excited to mark this milestone by welcoming the artist and scheduling an exhibition for 2024.