Christina Darras loves the procedure of embroidery, it calms her mind. She loves the coloured threads, the needles, the white canvas, the time one spends on it. Embroidery instantly slows down one’s rhythms, taking them from hectic to slow, tic toc, old style time. She builds her images to the unknown, colour by colour, feeling what should go next more than thinking. These embroideries took her long time to finish. She started making them when preparing to move to Australia and finished working on them two years after. It is a slow, self-healing process, reassuring oneself that everything is going to be alright. Their theme evolves to portraits integrating to their surroundings focusing on integration, adaptation. In 2016 she visited the NGV exhibition on embroidery and quilts and saw some amazing works made by women migrating to Australia in the late 19th century. Most of them were embroidered while being on the ship on their long way to Australia. She related to these women although her trip was much sorter to their sentimental journey and the healing practice of embroidery is the common ground. Christina moved to Melbourne almost 2 ½ years ago from Athens Greece. She is a visual artist, but also has been designing and making jewellery for the past 17 years. Christina studied painting at Ecole Nationale Des Beaux Arts in Paris, France, and printmaking at Central St Martins in London, UK. Christina has had have several solo exhibitions and participated in many group exhibitions. Christina collaborates with Galleries and museums, mostly in Athens, Greece, Melbourne and in the past Paris and London. ‘What characterizes my work is that I work in projects, and every time I adapt to serve the purpose of the project. So It doesn’t have to be painting, it could be an installation, or it is not always figurative, it can be geometrical and so on.I don’t feel tied to a style, or that any one has to be tied to a style in order to market his work. I feel that art is a journey to keep discovering, to keep your mind open and broaden your knowledge and potential.’ To see a full listing of Christina’s current work click here.
