Christina Michalopoulou-Filippopoulou

The painter Christina Michalopoulou-Filippopoulou, opens her personal magic cabinet, from which brushes, paints, lively colors and beautiful melodies spring up.

From a young age, I learned not to attach myself to objects. Not because I don’t love them, but because a series of moves, changes, and experiences taught me that the material things in our lives can quite frequently become deep roots, a counterweight to dreams, suddenly be lost or fade away day by day. What I finally, with time, understood, was that I love the memories they bring, the experiences they hide within them, the secrets and images that accompany them, even if these do not exist anymore.

In this way, by frequently asking myself the question “what would I take with me if I needed to leave now from the place in which I live”, the answer is always simple and succinct; brushes, paints, music, tea, and books. Anything, that is, which I need to survive, almost happily, under any circumstances…

A series of moves, changes, and experiences taught me that the material things in our lives can quite frequently become deep roots, a counterweight to dreams, suddenly be lost or fade away day by day.

The same holds for my magic cabinet, which I would attempt to fill so that it could hold within it people, love, caresses, moments, smells and memories, through material or other ways. I’d thus place within it, with great care and reverence:

The brushes and paint tubes with which I live and create daily. In a magical way, my contact with them keeps me safe from my thoughts, calms my inner beasts and balances me.

A box of Earl Grey tea from Fortnum & Mason and champagne truffles from Charbonnel & Walker, to always remember the taste of happiness.

My spotify, to save all my favourite music and always remember that my soul can always fly, even if my body can’t.

The painting Mamma, one of my favourite works, to remind me that the only thing that can survive time is love.

The painting Mamma, one of my favourite works, to remind me that the only thing that can survive time is love.

The book “Siddharta” by Herman Hesse to always remember the sense of freedom and the necessity of moving forward.

One of those small and wonderful ritualistic Moleskine notebooks, in which I record precious moments, people, images, tastes and places, to always remember that the taste and sense of freedom is nestled in our memory.

A box of bomboniere candy which I love, one of our first creations at Happyrooms in collaboration with the visual artist Giorgos Vavatsis, to always remember the magic of new beginnings.

That small portrait of my son, which I made 3 years ago, to always remember that nothing ever remains the same.

And, lastly, the book of Fumio Sasaki, “Goodbye Things”, to always remember to eliminate the unnecessary from my life, whether material or not, sentient or not.

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Christina Michalopoulou- Filipoppoulou is a Greek painter living and working in Thessaloniki, Greece. Her paintings are figurative, realistic human figures and body parts, on surrealistic environments. She often likes to bring the realism, sometimes even photorealism, of her figures in contrast with an abstract, pop or fictional background. Her original artworks are displayed at her studio, DEKA5/ENDEKA in Thessaloniki, in local and international exhibitions, personal collections and digitally on Saatchi Art, Artmajeur, Kunstmatrix and Artpal.