Raluca Ciupe was born in 1987, in the northern part of Transylvania, a historical and mystical land of Romania, commonly associated throughout the world with vampires, because of the influence of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and the many films the tale inspired.
Her creativity was stimulated from an early age, as she was exposed to the artistic skills and talent of her grandfather and mother. Later on, Raluca demonstrated an innate artistic talent for drawing and painting, focusing on exposing feelings and emotions that were prevailing her life and experiences.
Growing up in a mono-parental family and having to move often from a very young age meant that she continuously had to face changes and put efforts in adapting to new environments and people. All these aspects generated a consistent mix of emotions that she preferred to depict through her art.
The start of the artist career
During her first move abroad in 2010, Raluca was exposed to the colourful & vibrating culture of Spain, where she lived a couple of years and where her artistic career debuted. Whilst being there she took the opportunity to study art with the Spanish painter Jose Verbo for a couple of months, afterwards continuing to study and experiment diverse techniques and styles on her own.
Her next move took Raluca to Middle East, more specifically to Qatar, a completely new and different cultural environment, where she managed to extend her portfolio and include local influence in some of her artworks.
Her journey through the Middle East continued with Dubai in 2016, where her artistic activity grew further. She took opportunity to exhibit her artwork in three important exhibitions:
2018 – 1st Exhibition “Creative Visions” at Royal Central the Palm with ART Plus Gallery
2019 – 2nd Exhibition “World Art Dubai” with ART Plus Gallery
2021 – 3rd Exhibition “Artisita Festival” at Dubai Design District with Artisita Gallery
Raluca’s paintings are nestled between her inner and outer world. Rather than attempting to create a realistic interpretation, she enjoys taking her work at times in a surrealistic imagery perspective and focuses on revealing the duality, while attempting to point the way deep into the psyche to reveal one’s individuality.
Her interest in human emotions has been a constant source of inspiration since childhood, the struggles of life in the current society, the inequality and the ever-changing environment.
Raluca’s work also reached international scale including Romania, UK, Norway, Spain, Middle East. She completed various commissions with clients such as the Bluu Qatar for the Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Palace, NestDesign and other clients.
Artist Statement
Raluca’s paintings go into the direction of conceptual art, surrealistic at times.
The essence of the art is an idea or concept which is the most important aspect of the work. All of the planning and decisions are made beforehand the execution of the artwork. In the process , Raluca’s is using mixed materials to highlight in the best way the idea that she wants to underline.
Giving sometimes a 3D sense of the objects painted, it has the purpose of bringing that idea as close as possible to the reality of the viewer.
When it comes to Raluca’s art, it’s the thought that really counts.
So instead of looking at shapes, colours and lines to decipher Raluca’s artworks, try thinking about what reactions it evokes. What and how do you feel? What memory does it evoke? What does it tell you about different categories like space and time? By answering these questions you’ll be a step closer to understanding and appreciating her art.