MEET THE ARTIST

Since forever Stephanie Cime has been expressing herself through drawings and paintings and the urge to do so only grew stronger. It was almost unevitable that at some point this would culminate in a radical and unbridled commitment to her work.

No matter how important nature in all its beauty is to Stephanie, a direct link to a landscape or pictorial element is lacking in her work. In this sense, the poetic abstraction reveals a pure, uncompromising and profound authenticity that is not in any way a hazy sublimation of some sensory experience. On the contrary: it expresses a hyper-individual experience, an expression that transcends the individual action and that refers to a collective field of consciousness.

For Stephanie Cime, art is the pinnacle of interpersonal communication at a level that transcends cultural, intellectual and philosophical backgrounds and conventions. It is the manifestation of an urge to create, of a vitality that refers to a universal life force. Because of this quality, sometimes underlined by their impressive size, the works have an undeniable impact on the space in which they are on display and even more so, on the people who are present in this space, in a spectrum that extends from subtle to overwhelming. Starting out from an extremely brave vulnerability, Stéphanie Cime creates work that exudes strength, solidity and energy.

The explicit representation of reality is radically absent. Instead, the viewer is confronted with the purest of expressions of an emotion, which resonates with the viewer and in that sense the work evokes a new experience over and over again. The absence of a 'classical' frame of reference or any 'imposed' associations allows the viewer to connect with the work, addressing one's own frame of reference. Every new encounter with the work is like a new invitation for a dance of two hearts and minds. Seeing the work again is not merely a recollection of a previous observation but a new invitation to experience it. Call it poetic, lyrical, meditative or even mystic... the power of these works is that they cannot be caught or confined in words. So we suggest to let them do the talking. They may leave you speechless, but they will surely speak to your soul.

For as long as I can remember, I have been creating. As a child, I isolated myself to endlessly lose myself in drawing, coloring, and crafting,...

I was raised very traditionally, so an art education was out of the question.

That is why I graduated as a lawyer. However, my deep amazement at life could not be tamed, so I stubbornly combined my studies in law with a study in philosophy at the KULEUVEN, BELGIUM. In my spare time, I continued to paint, sculpt, and create, but the need to come out with my work, let alone make it my profession, was pushed aside because of fear of disappointing others, as well as myself.

Much later, on my path to authenticity, I finally found the courage to follow my passion and become a full-time artist. Engaging in creation while being a progressive agent of change in our society is my passion, my mission, and my purpose, and I am devoted to it.

The path to authenticity is vulnerable, uncomfortable, terrifying, and often impossible, but at the same time incredibly liberating. And that's worth everything. That is life. Life is movement, the movement from your head to your heart.

The art I bring will therefore always, on some level, be a signpost to following the heart and liberating your true self. I hope you enjoy my work. And even more, I deeply hope that you will feel your own authentic lion roar from the inside...

Love, Stephanie

Educations

2002-2007: KULEUVEN Master of Laws Magna cum laude
2005-2006: KULEUVEN Bachelor of Philosophy Cum laude
2010-2011: KULAK Postgraduate Diploma in Real Estate Studies Cum Laude
2022: Art Marketing, PR, & Communications Sotheby's institute of Art
2022 Certified Yoga Teacher The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers
2022-2024: Masters in Fine Arts Falmouth University UK (ongoing)

"Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are".

Brené Brown

Stephanie Cime

In Stephanie Cime's richly visual universe, colors appear as freely moving driving shapes. With acrylic paint, oil paint, gouache, pastel, sand on paper or canvas she creates inner landscapes as poetic abstractions. Her paintings are like sensory presences that feel at once lyrical and meditative, subtle and overwhelming, personal and universal.

Stephanie Cime's pictorial elements depart from natural environments and individual experiences and are refined into a unique palette that seems to reveal interpersonal and transcendent connections. Moving fluidly between abstraction and meditation, her work communicates from a desire for 'essence' with a direct and liberating expression of vital colours, sweeps, touches, lines and dots. Greens, browns and blues grow in the paint that is sometimes applied thick, reaching powerfully into shades of yellow, pink and white as if to embrace all seasons. From a certain vulnerability but above all a courageous openness, her work comes to life with an abundant and unfolding power. Light can be found everywhere and the rhythmic structures vibrate between the surprising and the timeless, the disruptive and the calming, autumn and spring. Stephanie Cime determinedly portrays a world that offers a glimpse of infinity between chaos and harmony, between image and texture. She develops a world that arises and expands and thus penetrates to the core of things in order to arrive at new syntheses. Over and over.

The REBIRTH exhibition is therefore like a new beginning. An invitation to move exploratively between the canvases, to make connections or to enter into conversation with them. It is also an invitation to explore each work individually, to get lost from different angles and to share your own reflections. This exhibition by Stephanie Cime shows that enthusiasm, drive and involvement are not far away, but very close. Detached from an observable reality, REBIRTH gives space to essential imaginations. Over and over.

Els Wuyts

Nov 2021

Big Title

PRESS

Article: Living Poetic Abstraction: In Conversation with Stephanie Cime

Read the article

On the occasion of her solo exhibition REBIRTH at Balthasar Brussels, Kisito Assangni discussed with Stephanie Cime on the process behind what he describes as "stunning works" presented in the show.