MARIE KONRAD
Alkistis Karouli
painter and art therapist from thessaloniki, greece
I paid a visit to the studio of Alkistis Karouli, a painter and art therapist from Greece who is living and working in Berlin. I came exactly at the right time, just when the evening sun enters the room. The autumnal colors of the trees are reflected in her paintings, color palette and apron. The paintings are full of warm colors, flowers, fantastical swirls and show a duktus full of energy and positivity - just like Alkie herself.
On the walls are botanical prints, postcards and unfinished paintings.
"I always check in which mood I am when I enter the studio and then I decide which painting to work on," Alkie says. Her self- portrait "is finished for the time now, but we'll see." The studio is located in an old fire station in Berlin-Wedding and functions as a kind of escape and refuge for Alkie when her job as an art therapist or life in general just becomes a bit too much.
In her job as an art therapist, she specialices in working with people who deal with depression. In a group of around 4-8 people, the act of painting helps to concentrate on the present moment and to release inner emotions and frustrations.
