當記憶與自然交織，會染出怎樣一片風景？倫敦藝術家 Sophie Charalambous 以細膩的水彩筆觸，將她的塞浦路斯血脈、地中海的陽光與影子，留駐在水彩的層疊之中。
When memory intertwines with nature, what kind of landscape emerges? London-based artist Sophie Charalambous transforms her Cypriot heritage and the Mediterranean’s light and shadow into layered watercolours through delicate brushstrokes.
Goats Amongst the Prickly Pears, 2021
水彩與不透明水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour and gouache on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
Night-time Prickly Pear with Scops Owl, 2020
水彩與不透明水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour and gouache on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
Small Kingdom, 2025
水彩與不透明水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour and gouache on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
擁有英國與塞浦路斯雙重血統的 Sophie Charalambous，定期回到父親的故鄉塞浦路斯尋找創作靈感。島上的無花果樹、仙人掌、野生動物、民間藝術、古老歷史和宗教節慶，都成為她畫作中反覆出現的主題。這位屢獲殊榮的藝術家曾於2018年奪得《星期日泰晤士報》水彩畫獎、2020年獲得 Jerwood 當代版畫獎，其大型水彩作品《山中的教堂》更於2018年在白金漢宮的「王子與贊助人」展覽中展出。
Sophie Charalambous, of British-Cypriot heritage, regularly returns to her father’s homeland of Cyprus for creative inspiration. The island’s fig trees, prickly pears, wildlife, folk art, ancient history, and religious festivals all become recurring motifs in her paintings. This award-winning artist won the Sunday Times Watercolour Prize in 2018 and the Jerwood Printmaking Today Prize in 2020. Her large watercolour work The Church in the Mountains was exhibited at Buckingham Palace in the “Prince and Patron” exhibition in 2018.
Late Summer Garden, 2024
水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
Fig Tree in Summer, 2021
水彩與不透明水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour and gouache on Khadi paper
950 × 1400 毫米 mm
Prickly Pear with Votive Charms, 2020
水彩與不透明水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour and gouache on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
Charalambous 遊走於繪畫、水彩和版畫之間，在手工製作的 Khadi 紙上以透明水彩層層疊加，再覆以不透明的顏料創造濃度。她的劇場設計背景明顯影響了作品中對空間、光影和比例的處理方式，為畫面帶來一種舞台般的戲劇張力。在她筆下，無花果樹在冬日成為鴿子和松鴉的棲息地，夏天則為廢棄房屋投下深邃的陰影；仙人掌變成神話與魔法的場所，連接人類與自然世界。偶爾，畫面中還會出現幻想的元素，遠處一閃而過的半人馬、在山羊群中被發現的古代哲學家，為寫實的地中海風景注入超現實色彩。
Working between drawing, watercolour and printmaking, Charalambous builds layers of transparent washes on handmade Khadi paper before adding opaque colour for intensity. Her background in theatre design clearly influences her treatment of space, light, and scale, bringing a dramatic, stage-like tension to her compositions. In her works, fig trees become winter homes for pigeons and jays, casting deep shadows on abandoned houses in summer; prickly pears transform into sites of myth and magic connecting humans to the natural world. Occasionally, fantastical elements appear: a centaur glimpsed in the distance, an ancient philosopher discovered among his goats, infusing realistic Mediterranean landscapes with surreal touches.
Night Pomegranate with Golden Ikons, 2022
水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
The House Opposite, 2021
水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
Thru September and Beyond the Stars, 2021
水彩與不透明水彩於 Khadi 紙
Watercolour and gouache on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
「風景、儀式和自然的循環」是 Charalambous 作品的核心主題。她相信「熟悉之中藏有魔法」，透過敏銳的觀察和對自然的深刻連結，將個人記憶、舊照片和想像編織成既熟悉又充滿啟發性的個人風景。在她最新於 Rebecca Hossack 畫廊舉行的個展「我與村莊」（2025年）中，她延續了無花果樹和仙人掌等主題，並擴展為層次豐富的風景，描繪村莊生活中人類、動物和植物之間相互依存的關係，就像 Marc Chagall 畫中那般，萬物共生、色彩斑斕、充滿生命力的完整世界。
“Landscape, rituals and the cycles of nature” form the core themes of Charalambous’s work. She believes “there is magic in the familiar,” weaving personal memories, old photographs, and imagination through keen observation and deep connection with nature into landscapes that are both familiar and revelatory. In her latest solo exhibition “I and Village” (2025) at Rebecca Hossack Gallery, she continues her exploration of fig trees and prickly pears, expanding them into richly layered landscapes depicting the interdependent relationships between humans, animals, and plants in village life, creating, like Chagall, a complete world vibrant with life and colour where all beings coexist.
Life Still Winter, 2013
混合媒材於 Khadi 紙
Mixed media on Khadi paper
1000 × 1400 毫米 mm
對 Charalambous 而言，藝術創作可能就是在熟悉與陌生之間尋找平衡。她筆下的地中海既是童年記憶中的故鄉，也是她作為藝術家不斷重新探索的文化根源。也許正是距離，讓無法歸去的故鄉在記憶中變得更加鮮明。
Perhaps for Charalambous, artistic creation is about finding balance between the familiar and the foreign. Her Mediterranean is both the homeland of childhood memories and a cultural root she continuously re-explores as an artist. Perhaps it is distance itself that makes a homeland we cannot return to grow more vivid in memory.
圖片提供：Sophie Charalambous, Rebecca Hossack Gallery
Courtesy of Sophie Charalambous, Rebecca Hossack Gallery