Charikleia Papapostolou

Harikleia Papapostolou is a mixed-media artist based in London and Athens.

The effect of scale and immersion in reverence and meditation are key aspects of her work. Through her installations and large-scale works, she aspires to create spaces where we are encouraged to gather, meditate and confront the innermost truths of our identity. Transcendentalism, prayer and the healing power of meditation play a central role in her practice. Her reflection on these ideas aims to provide a transition to an alternative reality where feelings of safety and completeness coexist with fear and dread. When these feelings collide, philosophical and spiritual understandings begin to form.

Her patterns swirl in a continuous, spiralling flow that she calls 'uterus' and are in constant dialogue with her research in metaphysics, natural philosophy, ecology and feminist art theory.

From the womb deep within the earth to the astral and ontological space existing beyond human understanding, her creative practice challenges existential reality and preconceptions about the role of humanity and womanhood.

Education

2023. MA Textiles, Royal College of Art, London, UK

2021. MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL, London, UK

​2011. BFA Visual and Applied Arts, School of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

The effect of scale and getting immersed in reverence and meditation are key facets of my work. Through my installations and large-scale pieces, I aspire to create spaces where we are encouraged to concentrate, meditate and come face-to-face with the innermost truths of our identity. Transcendentalism, prayer and the healing power of meditation play a central role in my practice. My reflection on these ideas aims to offer a transition into an alternate reality where feelings of security and fullness coexist with fear and terror. When these feelings collide, philosophical and spiritual understandings begin to form.

My practice is an outlet for my lived experiences. Therefore, my depiction of the womb is a pictorial exploration of motherhood and maternal relations. This investigation spans from the personal and familial to the universal and timeless. As the daughter of a miner, I was born and raised in a small mining village in Northern Greece, where fathers and brothers descended deep into the mineralising corridors of the mine in search of silver, lead, and zinc for countless generations. As a mother of four daughters, I am interested in our relationship with the earth that birthed and nurtured us. Through my paintings and multimedia installations, I aim to foster an encounter between the viewers and certain transgenerational revelations concerning our position within the universe.

From the womb deep inside the earth to the astral and ontological space outside of human understanding, my creative practice questions existential reality and preconceived notions about the role of humanity and womanhood. It meditatively transforms darkness into luminosity and proposes ways to heal from and deal with our current condition. By negotiating and unfolding what I describe as ‘the uterus of life,’ the symbolic womb that lies deep in the bowels of the earth, I explore what sets space and time in motion, leading them to open, close, expand, contract, pulsate and reference the origins of celestial mechanics. The motifs I use swirl in a continuous, spiralling flow and are in constant dialogue with my research into metaphysics, natural philosophy, ecology, and feminist art theory.

​By painstakingly dedicating a great deal of time and labour into creating my large-scale and highly detailed works, I see the making process as an opportunity to meditate and heal from everyday trauma. Fixing my attention on a single activity–the process of creating–enables me to exclude everything else from my awareness and focus on a universal truth liberated from society’s psychological, social and historical constraints.