“This sense—that something small can contain something vast—deeply influences my creations, both in the present and in the way I imagine the future.”
Tracing Lines of Memory and Imagination
Paris Sergiou, a painter rooted in the vivid atmosphere of Nicosia, creates works that feel both intimately personal and universally resonant. From an early age, he was captivated by the ability of small objects and fleeting images to evoke entire universes. This formative awareness—that even the smallest detail can hold vast emotional and conceptual space—continues to shape his artistic output. His practice thrives on this interplay between scale and significance, allowing him to craft works that are layered with potential meanings. Each stroke and shape seems to offer viewers a quiet invitation: to look closer, and to find something of themselves in the work.
For Sergiou, the artistic path was never a question of choice—it was a certainty. From childhood, he knew that painting was the language through which he would speak to the world. Rather than a dramatic turning point, his career has been a continuous unfolding, built through consistent exploration and need. Painting became not only a way to communicate, but a way to think. The process of giving form to thoughts and emotions shaped not only his work but his sense of self. That slow, daily commitment has evolved into a mature artistic voice that continues to refine itself while remaining deeply rooted in its origins.
At the core of his visual language is a commitment to gesture and line. Sergiou’s style prioritizes openness; rather than dictating a fixed narrative, his works provide space for each viewer to encounter them on personal terms. This fluidity encourages emotional responses that are subjective and varied. He doesn’t seek to overwhelm the viewer, but instead aims to create a sense of calm recognition—where interpretation is not only allowed but encouraged. His paintings become more than visual experiences; they are psychological spaces that allow people to linger, to question, and to reflect.
Paris Sergiou: Creating Through Connection and Presence
The studio, for Sergiou, is more than a workspace—it is an environment of transformation. Filled with natural light and surrounded by small objects and evocative images, the space is designed to nurture inspiration without forcing it. Rather than resisting interruptions, Sergiou views them as potential catalysts. Unexpected disruptions often become starting points for new lines of thought. Visitors to the studio don’t distract him—they energize him. Their presence turns the solitary act of painting into something performative, infusing the moment with shared vitality and offering an echo of the larger audience he envisions while working.
This sensitivity to atmosphere and presence extends beyond his workspace and into the very structure of his creative process. Sergiou embraces unpredictability, not as a break from his vision but as part of it. Engaging with others—whether consciously or passively—introduces elements of dialogue into his practice. It’s as if each painting anticipates a conversation, waiting patiently for someone to complete it. By opening his creative environment to others, he also opens the work itself, ensuring that it remains responsive, alive, and porous to new interpretations.
Within this framework, one particular painting stands out as especially meaningful. Now housed in the residence of Vanda Sequeira, the Portuguese Ambassador to Cyprus, this piece encapsulates a central preoccupation in Sergiou’s work: the psychological tension between burden and grace. Defined by gestural abstraction, it reflects the act of carrying oneself through life—not in a literal sense, but through the internal negotiations we each undertake. The image resists simplification, embodying both strain and serenity, effort and lightness. For Sergiou, it functions as a meditation on responsibility and identity, anchoring his broader vision in a specific emotional reality.
Between Silence and Intuition
Although Sergiou has explored various media throughout his artistic journey—photography, construction, installation—it is painting that continues to call him back. He recalls with clarity the instinctive pull he felt even as a toddler, compelled to communicate through lines and shapes. This early connection remains central to his practice today. Despite his appreciation for the richness of art history and the endless possibilities within contemporary practices, he views painting as uniquely direct. It allows him to access intangible concepts—those fleeting, essential elements of human experience—and attempt to render them visible.
His aesthetic isn’t tied to any particular trend or academic school, but rather to an intuitive process. The tactile immediacy of brush on surface, the way a single gesture can suggest entire emotional landscapes—these are what continue to compel him. The decisions he makes on the canvas aren’t calculated but arise from a dialogue between intention and discovery. This sense of openness defines not only his stylistic approach but also the way his work functions for its audience. His paintings resist explanation in favor of presence, allowing each mark to resonate in its own way.
Underlying his commitment to painting is a deep engagement with artistic influence. Lucian Freud, with his psychological intensity and visceral treatment of the body, remains a powerful figure in Sergiou’s mind. But just as important are the unnamed or lesser-known artists whose work offers quiet revelations. He finds value not in fame, but in the authenticity of expression—those moments when another artist’s hand, however obscure, illuminates something that feels true. In these encounters, Sergiou finds the courage and clarity to continue refining his own voice.
Paris Sergiou: Dreaming Forward by Returning Inward
Sergiou’s vision for the future doesn’t hinge on monumental projects or external milestones. Instead, he aspires to retain a deep sense of internal clarity—an ability to listen to what must come next. For him, the greatest ambition is to remain connected to the instinct that has always guided him. That forward motion, sustained by memory and imagination, holds within it the seeds of all future creations. His dream is not a singular destination, but an ongoing journey that honors both continuity and change.
This inward focus paradoxically makes his work more expansive. By staying attuned to his personal evolution, Sergiou ensures that his art remains fluid, responsive, and meaningful. Each new piece is both a reflection of where he has been and a gesture toward what might come. Rather than separating dream from practice, he integrates the two—making his creative life not a series of isolated achievements, but an ongoing process of becoming. In this way, his dream acts less as a goal and more as a compass, pointing toward a future built from honest reflection.
By anchoring his process in authenticity and openness, Paris Sergiou continues to craft work that resists easy categorization yet speaks with clarity. His paintings stand as quiet provocations—gestures suspended between force and fragility, abstraction and intimacy. They offer no definitive answers, only invitations: to pause, to reflect, and to remember something unspoken but deeply felt. And in doing so, they quietly expand the boundaries of what painting can offer in a fractured, fast-moving world.
