🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Evergreen Tree from Bucharest, Romania

Evergreen Tree

I am Larisa Tofan, an emerging artist working primarily with sculpture and installation. My practice also extends to painting, photography, set and costume design, and more recently sound design. I approach art as a space where material, memory, and ethics intersect — where form becomes a critical tool for questioning how we inhabit the world and relate to one another. Nature is central to my thinking, as a living cyclical system in which the human body is inherently embedded. In recent years, my work has expanded toward social and ecological themes, including climate change, food waste, and inequality, with a focus on art as care, responsibility, and collective transformation.

The soil / the need

When I first got closer to theatre, I was looking for a community and a sense of belonging. Theatre felt like a place where I could connect with others not only socially, but also emotionally and artistically, through shared stories and collective creation.

The first seed

A parent / family.

Tell us about that first spark

When I was younger, my sister was preparing to apply to acting school, and I went with her to many theatre performances in our city and nearby cities. Theatre became part of our routine. It stopped feeling distant and became something alive and present in everyday life. Through those experiences, I began to understand theatre not only as entertainment, but as a space where emotions, stories, and people meet.

Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)

The most important person in my theatre journey has been my sister, an actress and performance artist, who helped me see theatre as a possible path. Volunteering during high school at the Ingenious Drama Festival in Bacău (organized by high school students for youth theatre companies) was another key experience: it allowed me to witness the creative process from inside and understand the collaborative work behind a festival. This later led me toward set and costume design. More recently, participating in the artistic research residency Mind the Gap at the National Theatre Aureliu Manea in Turda expanded my understanding of theatre as memory, history, and cultural testimony, especially through my archive-based research on theatre photography and Romania’s political transition.

The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)

What keeps me connected is first of all the people closest to me — my sister and friends — who make theatre feel like a shared space of trust, growth, and belonging. At the same time, curiosity keeps pushing me deeper, especially through scenography and costume design. I am drawn to creating visual worlds and giving physical form to ideas, emotions, and atmospheres. This mix of personal connection, curiosity, and the desire to create has kept me rooted.

Branches (future / desire)

In the future, I hope theatre remains a space where I can grow creatively and professionally. I would like to work on more set and costume design projects and eventually work as a scenographer. Scenography feels like the place where I can fully express my interdisciplinary practice — where sculptural materials, installation, light, and sound meet. I am also interested in performance photography as something that can move beyond documentation and become an artwork in itself, extending the life of a performance.

Are you currently involved in cultural activities?

Yes, regularly.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?

An evergreen tree, because it remains alive and green throughout the year, even in the coldest seasons. To me, it reflects resilience and continuity — the ability to endure change while preserving inner vitality and continuing to grow quietly, persistently over time.

Contact

Instagram: @larisatofan_