Nos univers se touchent quand m'aime un peu, 2000
peinture sur toile, 70cm x 40cm

Ariana Cziffra
Nationality: Mauritius  
lives and works in Mauritius

contact : acziffra@hotmail.com

Curriculum Vitae

Ariana Cziffra
21 Captain Bruce Street
Rose-Hill
Mauritius
(+230) 970 9004
acziffra@hotmail.com

Date of Birth: 08/08/78

Nationality: French and Mauritian

Exhibitions:

August 2003 - ‘Mes Feuilles Devinent’, Alliance Francaise, Bell Village, Mauritius
52 mixed media paintings on canvas.
(a selection of these as well as images of the opening night can be viewed on the photogallery section of the website www.servihoo.com)

December 2006 - ‘Out of the Blue’, Café du Vieux Conseil, Port-Louis, Mauritius
40 abstract paintings in different shades of blue, shown outdoors.

January 2007 - participation in a group exhibition at the Movenpick hotel, Bel Ombre, Mauritius

January 2008 - ‘Ins & Outs’ for Escale, old prison, Port-Louis, Mauritius.
8 paintings on canvas (acrylics), 7 smaller paintings on paper (watercolours), 2 wooden screens, 1 textiles piece (collage -painting - mixed media), 1 sculptural piece (metal, textiles and found objects), 1 wooden installation with cigarettes and thread.

Education and Training:

2005 - 2007: Psychoanalytic training at CFAR (Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research), London, UK, including a ten year analysis in the Lacanian orientation.

2003 - 2006: M.A. Psychoanalytic Studies/Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Society (with distinction), Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK

2003: “Approche Clinique des Médiations Artistiques”, training at Arcréation-Mot de Passe, run by Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysts, Paris, France.

2000 - 2002: Diploma in ‘Psychoanalytic Psychology’ (with distinction), Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.

1999 - 2000: Foundation course in Art-Therapy, City University, London, UK.

(in parallel) Foundation Course in Art & Design, South Thames College, London, UK.

1996 - 1998: Psychology DEUG, Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier III, France.

1996: French Baccalauréat, literary section (mention AB), Lycée Labourdonnais, Mauritius

1993: Brevet des Collèges, Lycée Carnot, Paris, France.

Work experience:

2003 - 2007: ‘The French Ecole’ , London, UK - teaching French in several primary schools using songs, fingermimes, games and other interactive techniques

(in parallel) Private tuition at people’s homes

(in parallel) Translation of writings by psychoanalysts from French to English, including for instance the book ‘La Structure de l’Alterité Homme-Femme’ by J.G. Burzstein.

2002 -2003: Highbury Grove school, London, UK (secondary school)
Learning Support, i.e. supporting individual students and/ or small groups either in class or in the Learning Support Faculty. Training given for different types of support.

(in parallel) Islington Green School, London, UK (secondary school)
Using Art as a medium to facilitate therapeutic work, using the (Lacanian) psychoanalytic framework. (supervision and discussion groups with colleagues involved in the work).

2000 - 2002: The House of Sanayah, Reading, UK
Craftsmaking: decorating books, photo albums, diaries,etc. using handmade paper

1998 - 2002: Joka, Camden Town, London, UK
artist’s assistant in a shop/workshop, making and decorating paper maché and ceramic masks (Venitian style).

Other activities:

- the Art Group: in 2000, Sarah Reilly, Nik Sutton, Muriel Hudson, Catriona Guyler and I decided to form our own working group after that we’d met in art-therapy workshops at City University. We have been meeting on a regular basis to make and share intimate pieces of artwork that we wouldn’t necessarily want to show publically and who speak about personal issues. It constitutes therefore both an excuse to get together to create spontaneously without worrying about the outcome, and to explore the feelings attached to the making and the pieces created.

- Over the past 6 years, I have been regularly involved in attending seminars and conferences in (Lacanian) psychoanalysis. I have been involved in organising conferences and providing translation of psychoanalytic texts. I have also participated in seminars and conferences as speaker, and some of my interventions have been published. See for instance the article ‘To have or not to have...envy’, in JLS (Journal for Lacanian Studies), vol 4, no 1, Karnak Books, London, 2006 or ‘Mes jeux donnent malangue au ça’ in the book entitled ‘LInconscient et les Langues’, ed. Carnets de Psychanalyse, Paris, 2007.

I am involved in psychoanalysis both in practice and in theory. I am particularly interested in the links between Psychoanalysis and Art. I aim to carry on redefining my own ways of relating to them as separate disciplines and as two different approaches to the unconscious. In my experience, one can supplement the other in astonishing ways. The artistic mediation of unconscious desire holds, in my view, enormous potential for little shifts and deeper transformations, always opening up new subjective possibilities.