Early LifeShe was born and raised in Athens. From her earliest years, painting, decorating and the world of colors became a natural space of expression, joy, and inner calm. Through shapes and shades, she discovered ways to communicate, to dream, and to create. From a very young age, Lara felt that the way she perceived and expressed the world carried a distinct and unique quality, always driven by the desire to bring beauty to her surroundings.
Design EducationHer formal training began at AKTO (Art & Design), Athens, where she graduated with First Class Honours (9.1/10) in Interior Architecture and Decoration. A thesis trip to Berlin opened her eyes to the transformative power of light: how thoughtful illumination can influence moods, spaces, and the human mind. She continued at Middlesex University, London (BA Fine Arts in Interior Design, 8.46/10), and completed a Master’s at Florence Design Academy (Interior Design, 88/100).
“Art is not just creation; it is life, it is healing, it is light guiding us through the everyday journey.”
CaliforniaAroad trip to California (and especially San Francisco) changed the way Lara sees the world. The city’s walls spoke through the vibrancy of street art, and the people she met radiated a warmth that touched her soul. Returning home, she searched for artworks that could awaken that feeling again and again. And then she decided to paint her first canvas: the Golden Gate Bridge, not just as an image, but as emotion, memory, and light.
RecognitionIn 2014, her painting “San Francisco” won the BIC Design on Fire Competition, with the new lighter design selected from over 40,300 submissions across Europe, marking a major public recognition of her work at a European scale.
Art as HealingShe devoted herself to art and painting, always exploring new techniques. The structured, cubist skies in her paintings symbolize the life we are obliged to live as we grow, bound by rules and responsibilities. Yet we must never forget the child within us, its light, its joy, its freedom. The aim of her work is to enter homes where it awakens the joy and creativity of our inner child, making us feel happier and more connected to that playful, radiant part of ourselves.
Through her engagement with psychology and psychoanalysis, Lara realised that for years she had been painting in structured, cubist forms because her own life felt equally structured. Turning to abstract painting became a liberating process: through freer expression on canvas, she was able to connect with herself more deeply and rediscover her true essence. She now works fluidly between both styles: cubist works as meditation, abstract paintings as liberation.
She has since sold over 45 original paintings in Greece, the United States, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and the UAE. Her first sale was “Elephant Design”, purchased in Switzerland.