Gentle tenants, 2003

Gentle Tenants marks an early milestone in the artist's exploration of figurative abstraction—a style that would later become her signature. Inspired by fragmented classical sculptures seen at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, the painting presents human forms that are deliberately incomplete: faceless, headless, or with limbs suspended in space. These figures, often female, seem to exist in a dreamlike state, their thoughts and emotions conveyed not through facial expression, but through posture, gesture, and color.

Rendered in radiant yellows and oranges, the figures carry the warmth of sunlight—expressing the feeling of a beautiful summer day. The painting's positive palette brightens any interior, infusing it with light and warmth. For the artist, who keeps the piece opposite her bed, it's the first thing she sees upon waking. In her words, the painting brings a sense of comfort and gentle joy, like morning sun filtering into the room. Even on cold, grey days, Gentle Tenants offers a quiet glow that warms the space and the spirit.

The juxtaposition of organic forms and architectural structure evokes a quiet tension between presence and absence, intimacy and distance. The figures appear as ephemeral guests within a defined space, suggesting themes of transience, memory, and silent occupation. The title Gentle Tenants hints at this subtle relationship—they dwell within the space softly, like thoughts in a room or clouds passing through a doorway.

not for sale