08/07/2018 Lívia Fernandes
Neofytos Agisilaou is known in art as “Striding Out The Paper Box (SOTPB)”. He was born in the second largest city in Cyprus, Limassol. At the age of twenty-two, he lives in London and works in sculpture, installation, photography, performance and painting. Colors are notoriously a crucial feature in the SOTPB process. The artist claims that their presence in his art is due to the perception of the importance and frequency with which they appear in the daily life, either through the traffic or the clothes that we use, besides being a palpable way of expressing our feelings.
In fact, his works receive colorful contrasts that remind us of different sensations. We can also perceive the constant use of varied geometric forms, which results in interesting compositions, which are complete, despite the different forms and materials used. Check out Neo’s statement about his work, his experiences in art, his inspirations and artistic provocations:
“My name is Neofytos Agisilaou, my artistic name is Striding Out The Paper Box (SOTPB), I was born in Limassol in Cyprus and I currently live in London. My work is mostly based on sculpture and installation but simultaneously I am working on photography, performance art and painting mediums as well. Picasso has a big impact on my work, I found Picasso an amazing artist and his cubism paintings a great way to get inspirations. For instance, I found inspirations from his paintings throughout the way that he used the colours and the cubism rhythm which he was following.
Limassol in Cyprus and I currently live in London. My work is mostly based on sculpture and installation but simultaneously I am working on photography, performance art and painting mediums as well. Picasso has a big impact on my work, I found Picasso an amazing artist and his cubism paintings a great way to get inspirations. For instance, I found inspirations from his paintings throughout the way that he used the colours and the cubism rhythm which he was following.
It is fascinating how colours have such a huge impact on people’s lives. I noticed that the most important part of colours as an element is to inspire people to express themselves and determinate their feelings. For me, colours are the life we breathe. Colours are miraculous. Therefore, I have been thinking about how I could embrace the authority of colours under my perception. In addition, my work is based on using colourful objects in relation to geometrical forms and the human figure. Lastly, I have always been interested in the human psychology, thus I am using my work as a treatment which the colourful strict geometrical shapes are a meditation on the viewer’s mentality.
Besides that I am interested in people’s psychology and the social problems. To be exact, I am looking at people’s feelings and how my work could have an impact on them. Moreover, I believe that art is a way to people communicate and observe the reality. What I mean by that, is that for me art is the way that people could learn new ways of understanding and also be caring personal issues. For me art is education.”
