Seraphina’s birth until recently have been shrouded in deep mystery, constituting an enigma of the Cold War period, which determined her path and found reflection in her subconscious life and career choices.

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Being a product of her parents' short-lived clandestine love affair across borders and ideological divides, Seraphina always felt a certain gap which she longed to bridge, if only in her aspirations, and self-expressions.  

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Unknown to her, the secret of her birth and what happened right after it got imprinted in her pensive, almost introspective gaze which beamed at the viewers from her early childhood black and white photographs. Apparently, Seraphina's gaze had a level of emotional sensitivity and maturity that went beyond what is typical for a child of that age. Her facial expressions captured by the camera hinted at a deeper, more thoughtful inner life - a perceptiveness and capacity for reflection that was unusual for someone so small and young.

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The nature and quality of Seraphina's gaze when she was 4 years old indicated that she had already weathered some challenges and difficult circumstances that forced her to grow up faster than her peers. The reason for her rapid psychological maturing was accountable to the fact of her having been abandoned by her parents and separated from her twin brother at birth. A cruel and calculated decision taken by her biological father. As a result and also due to certain consequences stemming from Seraphina's birth circumstances she had to stay in Leningrad, USSR, whilst her mother of Russian aristocratic émigré circles returned to Paris, France, taking with her Seraphina’s twin brother.

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Seraphina's father, being in sensitive government operations, did not wish to raise Seraphina himself, and, right after her birth, placed Seraphina with a foster family of Russian-Ukrainian descent. Estranged from both biological parents, she spent her childhood between Saint Petersburg, - then Leningrad, - and a village in the Western Ukraine: Reshutsk. Meanwhile, her twin brother was growing up in Paris, France with his mother's family.  

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The trauma Seraphina experienced so early in her life had a profound effect on her. Her early 'independence' from the biological parents paired with her natural rich symbolic thinking and the ability to maintain authentic selfhood developed into a particularly sophisticated form of resilience. She has grown into a rare person who could not only survive challenging circumstances but find deep meaning in them, transforming potential sources of trauma into opportunities for self-understanding and growth.

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