Sofia Stevi - turning forty winks into a decade at BALTIC

"Sofia Stevi (born Athens, 1982) makes paintings, sculpture and works on paper. Drawing inspiration from literature, philosophy and the everyday, her works bring together a wide range of references, from the writings of Victorian poet Christina Rossetti, to found images on Instagram.

Stevi’s sweeping lines and colours describe form with a sense of playfulness and animation. Her paintings capture fleshy fruits and soft body contours with a cartoon-like expressiveness. Made with Japanese ink on untreated cotton fabric, the works evoke the domestic but have a charged eroticism. Torsos and limbs dissolve into psychedelic patterns and washes of colour. Moving between the real and imaginary, Stevi’s works are often deeply personal, exploring the artist’s desires and dreams."

In the smaller room of the gallery Stevi displays some of her offcuts of fabrics that have been made into what resemble sample books that have been placed on a low coffee table. Viewers can sit on one of the bespoke bean bag style cushions made by Stevi. It is these that I am particularly attracted to because of their abstraction and non-figurative nature.