On the Exploration of Fearless Women
We spoke with artist Stella Kapezanou about her recently completed Fulbright Artist Fellowship at the Santa Fe Art Institute as well as her creative life in Athens.
September 2024 - No. 13
Stella Kapezanou’s paintings are full of activity and color, literally and figuratively. For the past few years, she has explored the topic of female sovereignty and how it relates to her personally as well as society as a whole.
Kapezanou expanded upon this topic during her Fulbright Artist Award fellowship (2023-2024) at the Santa Fe Art Institute’s International Thematic Residency Program in New Mexico, USA. During this residency, she completed a series entitled Corn Maidens. These paintings prominently feature powerful and audacious female figures, which are influenced by the corn maiden stories and myths of the Pueblo people. Mimicking all of Kapezanou’s repertoire, the paintings are chaotic and intricate— one needs to inspect every bit of the canvas to uncover the entire story.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Artist Stella Kapezanou standing in front of "Here Be Dragons," 2024, acrylics on canvas, from the "Corn Maidens" series
You just completed your Fulbright Award for the Greek Artist Residency program at the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico. Can you tell us more about this experience?
I was considered a visiting researcher for this fellowship at the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico. I absolutely loved it. I participated alongside a diverse group of artists from numerous locations and disciplines. These included writers, cinematographers, and photographers, to name a few. I was the only participant from Greece and the only painter!
The theme of this residence was sovereignty. We each explored what this theme meant to us on both a personal and socio-political level. I specifically focused on female sovereignty, which has been at the core of my practice for the past few years.
We were each assigned our own studio, and I had one in a building designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legoretta. The lighting was dreamy! Working in this studio was the best part of my residency. I would work until 2 AM sometimes – which was late by American standards – and having that time to create in that space was like paradise for me.
What I love most about the Fulbright fellowship overall is that it is fully merit based. The committee selects those who they feel are capable of being good representatives of Greece to the USA and vice versa.
What work did you create during this fellowship?
I created seven works that are part of a series entitled Corn Maidens. These were inspired by my exploration of female sovereignty as well as my time at the Santa Fe Art Institute. During the residency, we had the opportunity to learn more about New Mexico and its people through field trips, lectures, and discussions. I started to introduce new elements from these experiences directly into my paintings.
Corn Maidens was influenced by Pueblo traditions about women of the same name who symbolized femininity and growth and represented the life-giving power of corn. These women never got married – a detail that excited me – and embodied a dedication to prosperity.
I was introduced to the curator Tressa Berman in Santa Fe, and she connected me with the multidisciplinary artist Kate Turner because she felt that our work could complement each other. We are both inspired by female power, earth rituals, and the beauty in the natural and human-made world. After my residency, we presented our work together at The Opening Gallery in New York City. The show was entitled Corn Maidens: Crop Circles, Fire and a Conflagration of Birds.
Edit: Sozita Goudouna founding director of the non profit “Greece in USA” introduced Kapezanou to Tressa Breman to present a two person exhibition At The Opening Gallery since the mission of Greece in USA is to instigate a dialogue between Greek artists and American art professionals.
Kapezanou working on "Corn Maidens" at her studio at The Santa Fe Art Institute
Female sovereignty has been a central theme of your work for a few years. How did this idea start?
I didn’t intentionally explore this topic. It was something that surfaced during COVID. I used to be interested in painting large groups of people together, and then focused on relationships between couples as well as between people and objects. During the COVID lockdowns in Greece, which were very strict, I was considered self-employed. This permitted me to obtain a special license where I could leave my house and go to my studio every day. Because of the loneliness and forced-introversion of these lockdowns, I started to examine how I experienced the world particularly as a woman. This led me into thinking more about women in general, and this is where the female empowerment idea started.
The first series I created under this theme concentrated on why in art – and this might sound like a generalization – are women always the objects of desire? Why do women tend be nude in paintings? Why can’t men be the objects of desire instead? What would that look like? I started with these serious questions then added a bit of humor (which is something I always add).
Can you describe this first series of paintings under the female sovereignty theme?
The first series that came out of this idea was entitled Neptune in Retrograde. I didn’t finish this series because of some other demands from the pandemic. The Deji Art Museum in Nanjing, China also acquired many of these paintings.
On these canvases, I painted female nudes who were accompanied by male mermaids. I created new narratives and blurred the lines between who was the object of desire. The women that were escorting these mermen were full of femininity and vulnerability but they were also strong and confident. Slowly this idea became more about female empowerment, and I started exploring what more of these powerful and unapologetic women could be like.
A painting from Kapezanou's "Neptune in Retrograde" series
How to you portray these fearless women in your paintings?
The biggest question I ask is this: why can’t women be feminine and powerful at the same time? I depict women in my paintings with beautiful bodily curves, long fingernails, prominent breasts, and so on. They look really sexy and feminine, but they gaze at viewers with a strong, dynamic eye. In the scenes I create, the women are independent, free, and unapologetic.
Some people have told me that they feel uncomfortable looking at my work because they have become the objects of desire for the women in the painting. I love hearing this because I intentionally create this reversal.
What unparalleled perspectives and talents do you feel you bring to the creative industry?
I’m not sure. There are so many talented artists that I admire and discover on a daily basis. The more I see art, the more I fall in love with it.
I do have a deep respect for the medium of painting though. There have been so many conversations over the last decade about painting being dead and that nobody cares for the medium anymore, but I don’t believe that. I care about the contextualization of my work and the ability to express myself through the act of painting.
You are a full time artist. Can you describe what this lifestyle is like for you?
Being a full-time artist is a beautiful experience, but it’s very demanding. I couldn’t do it if I had another job. I can’t be in my studio for only three or four hours a day– that’s how long it takes me just to prepare my environment! And when I paint, I lose track of time. I even think about my paintings in my sleep. Sometimes I wake up before my morning alarm so that I can get ready and run to the studio to dive into whatever piece has kept me up all night. It’s very exciting.
What is your creative process like? Do you sketch your work before you paint it or approach it a different way?
When I start a new painting, I just work through the idea I have in my mind and let it evolve naturally on my canvas. I would lose interest in a painting if I sketched it first, and I don’t want my process or my work to ever feel predictable to me.
When I have new ideas as I paint, I simply introduce them into my work. Doing this might complicate the story on my canvas, but that’s thrilling to me. While I may combine many different ideas and references in my work, there is still unity.
You shared with us that painting gives you freedom that you cannot experience in the real world. Please expand upon this sentiment for our readers.
It’s true. I have so much more freedom in my paintings than I do in real life. The world would be chaotic if everyone did anything they wanted, but when I paint, I feel like I have that freedom.
Painting in comparison to, say, sculpture, is more autonomous as well. When I paint, I don’t necessarily need anyone to help me. When I work with sculpture, I may need someone to help me carry the marble, cast materials, and transform bronze, for example. I don’t need anyone when I paint and it’s incredible! I can shop for materials myself and create my own world.
Can you tell us about what is it like to be an artist based in Athens?
Living and creating in Athens is wonderful. It’s a vibrant city. I have access to large, affordable, and centrally located studio spaces and can purchase materials at great prices.
I think it’s important to mention that I studied for my masters at the Chelsea College of Arts in London. It was fully funded by a double scholarship and the Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship. I enjoyed living in London, but ultimately decided to return to Greece when I graduated because I was raising my young son while I was there. I felt that I needed to move back home to be near my family and support system.
While being in Greece is good for the soul, I sometimes feel that I need to expand my horizons by visiting other countries. When I’m traveling though, I do have the desire to return to Greece to reset. My life is somewhat of a pendulum in this case.
How does all of your traveling affect your work, if at all?
Firstly, I cannot leave Athens without finishing a painting that is already in process. This is because I always feel like a completely new person when I return from a trip. If I tried to finalize a painting when I returned, the finished product wouldn’t be cohesive— it would look like two different people painted it.
I’m always influenced by new environments and tend to introduce elements from my travels into my paintings as well.
"Ivy and Friends" by Kapezanou at the "Unapologetic WomXn: The Dream is the Truth" show at the Venice Biennale
How would you describe the current state of the Greek arts scene?
The art world is small, and in Greece it’s even smaller. Sure Athens is becoming hip and trendy, but I don’t think the world actually looks at Greek art. The country is finally in a better place economically, but only compared to the country’s standards, not to the rest of the world.
The art market here is so small that Greeks aren’t even that involved in it. Art isn’t an essential part of many Greek peoples’ lives and it’s not really part of their education. People from France or Italy, for example, were born into art as a result of their direct, historical exposure to the Renaissance. Greeks don’t share this experience.
A small portion of the Greek population is interested and involved in art, and those who are interested in it tend to look abroad to see art, create it, and buy it. A respect for art must start at home and then transfer into schools. It’s slightly difficult to change this behavior because many families in Greece, especially in Athens, go to the beach on weekends, not to museums. We are lucky to live in the Mediterranean, but this means that sometimes our priorities and recreational activities are focused elsewhere.
What’s next?
I’m actively participating in the Unapologetic WomXn: The Dream is the Truth show at the Venice Biennale, which is presented by the Ross-Sutton Gallery and hosted by the European Culture Center at Palazzo Bembo. The show is curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton and she selected an international group of 33 female artists to participate. The focus is on female sexuality through each artists’ eyes. Destinee discovered me on Instagram, and after reviewing the other selected artists, I knew I wanted to participate. It is open until November 24.
Since returning to Athens from my Fulbright fellowship, I have started a new body of work. It’s influenced by my travels across the USA, specifically Palm Springs. I visited the Annenberg Foundation when I was there and became fascinated by the history of that site. It’s a place where many politicians visited to shape the world under the disguise of recreation. My paintings for this series look glossy, colorful, and happy, but there’s an ironic and underlying message. I’m also working on sculptures that will accompany these paintings. They will be in an exhibition together next spring.
I have other upcoming projects with Art Athina, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and a Pink October group show at the House of Mana and another one with LOFOS Art Project.
Keep up with Stella Kapezanou on her Instagram @stellakapezanou
