Born in Rio de Janeiro, Stefanie Ferraz lives and works between Rio and London.

Having graduated in 2011 with a degree in Product Design from PUC-Rio, Stefanie moved to London to do her Masters in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts (2016) and the Slade School of Fine Art (2018).

Her artistic practice explores how the process of painting can be used to tell strange stories that move seamlessly between excitement and discomfort, pleasure and pain.

This fluidity in the perception of image is informed by the means of applying the paint. For example, when using large amounts of solvent, the artist proposes a sort of ‘aquatic materiality’, wherein the image dissolves, revealing in its place layers of the process itself.

Stefanie’s research amalgamates a plethora of references, ranging from Renaissance paintings, through digital pornography to the tarot and the carioca carnival. These references are all linked by ideas around the body and sexuality.

At Despina, she will deepen her research into the tarot. For the first time, she will focus particularly on the suite of hearts through which she will tell the story of a troubled relationship.

Previous Exhibitions include: Care Don’t Care at Basis Projektraum, Frankfurt (2021), Unlocked at Candid Arts Trust, London (2020), The Land of No Evil at Offshoot Gallery, London (2019), NOMAD #1 Accidents Never Happen, Cluj (2018).