Overview

Sophie Charalambous is an award-winning artist of British-Cypriot heritage, living in London.  She works on paper between watercolour, drawing and mono-printing. She regularly revisits Cyprus and in her work the island's flora, fauna, folk art, ancient history and religious festivals are re-envisioned in personal landscapes which fuse the imagined past and the observed present, the natural and cultural. 

             

Although her work is always based on close observation and a deep connection with nature, other elements are also in play. Charalambous’s background in theatre-design seems evident in her treatment of space and light. She deploys shadow and scale to bring an often heightened sense of reality to a scene. It is suggested, too, by her occasional touches of fantastical imagination: a centaur glimpsed in the distance, an ancient philosopher discovered amongst his goats.

 

Sophie Charalambous won the Jerwood Printmaking Today Prize 2020, the Sunday Times Watercolour Prize 2018 and the David Gluck Memorial Drawing Prize 2017.  Her large watercolour 'The Church in the Mountains' was included in ‘Prince and Patron' a 2018 exhibition at Buckingham Palace, celebrating (then) Prince Charles’s love of the arts. Charalambous has exhibited internationally and in 2010 was commissioned by Van Cleef & Arpels to draw in their workshops in Paris. 

 

Charalambous trained as an undergraduate at Brighton University (BA Hons Fine Art Painting), before postgraduate studies at the Motley Theatre Design Course and The Royal Drawing School, where she is now a member of the teaching faculty.

Works
  • Sophie Charalambous, The Return of Pholus, 2025
    The Return of Pholus, 2025
  • Sophie Charalambous, Cactus Tree in the Time of Capricorn, 2025
    Cactus Tree in the Time of Capricorn, 2025
  • Sophie Charalambous, Eli's Donkey, 2024
    Eli's Donkey, 2024
  • Sophie Charalambous, Evening Garden with Bee Eaters, 2024
    Evening Garden with Bee Eaters, 2024
  • Sophie Charalambous, Winter Landscape with Fig Tree, 2024
    Winter Landscape with Fig Tree, 2024
  • watercolour painting of a yellow fig tree surrounded by flora and fauna inspired by the scenery of Cyprus by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous.
    Autumn Fig Tree In The Valley, 2025
  • Watercolour painting of a hibiscus tree with red flowers surrounded by sheep and goats by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous.
    Hibiscus Tree In The Evening, 2025
  • Watercolour painting of a tree with yellow lives under a dark purple sky with stars by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous represented by Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery.
    Small Kingdom, 2025
  • Watercolor and gouache painting of trees and flora and birds by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous inspired by the fauna and nature on the island of Cyprus.
    Spring Equinox Landscape, 2024
  • Watercolor and gouache of a chicken on a step in front of a tree with green leaves by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous inspired by the fauna and flora of the island of Cyprus.
    Cactus Tree in the Village, 2024
  • Watercolour of of a pear tree in bloom with green leaves and birds and butterflies by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous inspired by the flora and fauna of Cyprus.
    Prickly Pear in Bloom, 2022
  • Watercolour painting of a tower with the moon in the background and various flora and fauna by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous.
    The Moon and the Tower, 2022
  • Watercolour painting of steps surrounded by green flora and fauna with a man at the top by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous.
    Winter Leaves The Garden, 2022
  • Watercolour and gouache painting of a pomegranate tree with green leaves and red fruit by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous represented by Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery.
    Pomegranate Tree with Silver Tamata, 2021
  • Sophie Charalambous, Artist Studio
    Artist Studio
  • Watercolour and gouache painting of a prickly pear tree with green flora and fauna with the moon in the background by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous.
    Night Flowering Prickly Pear II Pollinated by Bats, 2021
  • Sophie Charalambous, Artist Studio
    Artist Studio
  • Monoprint on mulberry paper of an old man in a chair sleeping under a green tree by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous.
    Old Man Sleeping by a Shrine, 2022
  • Watercolour and gouache painting of two goats and a prickly pear tree by British-Cypriot artist Sophie Charalambous inspired by the flora and fauna of the island of Cyprus.
    Prickly Pear with Goats and Fruits, 2021
  • Sophie Charalambous, Family Beside a Winter Fig, 2025
    Family Beside a Winter Fig, 2025
Exhibitions
Press
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