Through a series of vibrant, other-worldly compositions, Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” offers an allegorical glimpse into the transformation of her own identity.

After growing up as a biological male, the Romanian artist has spent the past several months undergoing the process of sex reassignment, all while producing the works now on view in her first solo exhibition at Galerie Judin in Berlin.

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Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 2016 , Oil on canvas, 229 × 187 cm. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
Installation view of Cooking for A (left) and Fountain of Youth (right), 2016. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
Installation view of Maxim and Me , 2016. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
Fishing for Your Zodiac , 2016, Oil on canvas, 196 × 190 cm. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
Installation view of Trying to Be Beautiful (left), The Ancient Part of My Brain (Middle), and Cloud of Life (right), 2016, oil on canvas. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
The Ancient Part of My Brain , 2016, oil on wood, 49.7 × 59.7 cm. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
With the Help of Mendeleev, 2016, oil on wood, 50.2 × 50.1 cm. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.
Mi Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”
Bozzetto , 2016, terracotta, 26 × 27 × 25 cm. Photo courtesy of Galerie Judin.

Although Kafchin’s works are riddled with age-old motifs and allegorical references, their contexts are distorted, rewritten through imagery that is as symbolically informed as it is self-reflexive.

Having developed this canon during her earlier collaborations with a group of Romanian artists known as the “Cluj Connection,” she now fuses art-historical and pop-cultural iconography, using their surreal intersection to visualize her tormented process of transitioning.

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Albeit abstractly, Kafchin’s “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” invites viewers to peer into her still unfinished transformation, considering her hopes, fears, and uncertainties, while inevitably reflecting upon their own.

M Kafchin, “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” is on view at Galerie Judin until January 14, 2017.