Teodora Nastase

Lives and works in Bucharest, Romania

Artist statement

Teodora I. Năstase draws from canonical and apocryphal texts; her work is structured around faith and divine order. Each image contains multiple narratives, with every character demanding equal attention and inviting the viewer to experience everything at once. The project unfolds as a continuous visual novel of ten interconnected volumes. Her goal is to bring old visual languages — manuscripts, tapestries, folklore — back into dialogue, allowing medieval intensity to meet a contemporary eye. Each image grows from a central element, with its structures emerging in response to what is present. Narratives shaped by punishment and exile are rewritten toward reconciliation. Since childhood, Teodora has carried the verse from Revelation 21:4: "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." If, long after her lifetime, these images lead someone else to draw, the work will have fulfilled its purpose.