A minute with Lenia Georgiou Visual Artist and Art Therapist

Where do you live?
I live in Nicosia with my partner

What did you have for breakfast?
Black coffee, of course, and a banana

Describe your perfect day
A slow-paced day during which I can enjoy my coffee in the sun, spend time in the studio creating, go out in nature, and then pass quality time shared with my family over a delicious meal.

Best book ever read?
The Cat Who Taught Zen by James Norbury. It is a simple yet amazing book of a cat’s journey of wisdom, understanding, accepting and of an unexpected friendship.

Best childhood memory?
Playing carefree with my brothers outdoors

What is always in your fridge?
Greens and water

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
90s songs

What’s your spirit animal?
It is definitely a horse because it is free, proud and powerful.

What are you most proud of?
Creating Nefeles, my own visual arts and art therapy centre in Nicosia, and the installation Poxiàs, a collective work of art created in 2014 together with asylum seekers at the Kofinou Reception and Accommodation Centre for Applications for International Protection. It resulted from a series of Art Therapy interventions conducted as part of my Master’s thesis in Art Therapy in Italy. In 2016, Poxias won an award within the framework of the Talent Prize and was exhibited at the MACRO museum in Rome.

What movie scene has really stayed with you?
In the film Once Upon a Time, the City of Fools, which explores the activities of the psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, who advocated for the dismantling of psychiatric hospitals and depicts the degrading conditions in Italian psychiatric hospitals before the Basaglia Law. There’s a scene where a patient questions, ‘Is it pain that makes you crazy, or is it being crazy that makes you feel so much pain?’ These lines sum up mental illness.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
My mum

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
In 1975, one year after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, where 30,000 women marched silently towards occupied Famagusta.

What is your greatest fear?
That a person I love deeply might become mentally unhealthy.

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
I am here for you, you got this.

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone
Poor communication and narcissistic behaviour

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
Enjoy every single moment, spend time with my loved ones, dance like crazy, create art, and walk barefoot in nature.