Sofia

Sofia is a portrait of a young woman with long hair and bare shoulders, her head crowned by a mass of pink, white and violet peonies and roses. Her gaze is lowered and still, set against a deep midnight blue ground.

Ritchelly Oliveira draws the face and shoulders in charcoal greys with photographic control, then paints the flowers in oil, so that the colour sits entirely in the crown while the figure remains almost monochrome. The flowers frame the sitter and press in on her at the same time, a tension that runs through the artist’s garden works.

Unique work, charcoal and oil on canvas, 90 × 70 cm (35.4 × 27.6 in). Born in Brazil in 1993 and trained in Visual Arts at the Federal University of Goiás, Ritchelly Oliveira has worked with the human figure since 2012. His portraits grow out of conversations with the people he draws, a practice he began in 2015 with the series Lacunas (Gaps). His work has been exhibited in Goiânia, Berlin, Miami, New York and Los Angeles, including the solo exhibition Fragility at La Brea Studio in 2023, and has appeared in international art publications such as Beautiful Bizarre.

Available for private viewing at Tilsitt Gallery in Porto, or worldwide delivery upon inquiry.