These are heavy times. After two years of pandemic lockdowns, just as we were all looking forward to restarting life as we once knew it, one pitiful, evil little man’s ego launched a European war that nobody wanted. Suddenly, we’re all feeling the whiplash. It would be really easy to curl up on the couch with gloom and doom thoughts swirling around in our heads. But these days, we’re all also trying to find joy and more lighthearted moments in our lives.

For me, one such joyful moment was coming across the surreal, playful, colorful fantasy world of Kate Theo.

KATE AND HER WONDERFUL TECHNICOLOR WORLD

Who is Kate, you ask? Kate Theo (@katethheo79 on Instagram), or Katerina if you go by her given name, originally grew up in Greece. An artist at heart from a young age, she first discovered a love for painting. Later on, her creative pursuits brought her to Florence where she studied architecture before eventually settling in Puglia in southern Italy where she now lives with her family.

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Today, Kate’s work is is inspired by fashion, art and design that she’s surrounded herself with throughout her entire life.

But it’s her imagination, and her ability to take a few simple shapes or poses and create a minimalist but engaging image that drew me to Kate’s work. She’s not afraid to use a pop of color, a tongue-in-cheek posing or a little bit of whimsy. And voila! Suddenly, Kate’s caught your attention and you’re ready to play. Where will you start?

USE YOUR IMAGINATION

The colors draw you in, but there’s also depth that underlies Kate’s work. She creates scenes that are designed to leave something for you, the viewer, to discover. The big and bright color blocks of blue, yellow, red, or green are also a perfect backdrop for your own thinking: Are you loving the sunny yellow? Or are you more into the moody blues today? Is the person facing away from you just shy or are they secretly laughing at something? Kate allows room for audiences to use their imagination in interpreting her simple, playful but always well thought out compositions. It’s the perfect antidote to the craziness that surrounds us. So, are you ready to dive in?

All images by @katetheo79