Artist Statement
In my work, I explore the intersections between painting and sculpture. I challenge the traditional boundaries of painting, by incorporating different materials and techniques such as collage, concrete, marble pieces, neon lights, and denim, while referencing youth culture, and urban life.
Born and raised in the center of Athens, Greece, I have been inspired by the city’s shifting landscape. From a young age, I have been engaging with the rich and diverse street culture, which later directly entered my praxis. My starting point is often the city object, which although soulless, carries engraved traces of something very humane. I am interested in the way an object can become a “transplant” that defines the identity of a pre-existing space.
In my painting, I focus on the mechanisms by which we tell stories through these cultural relics, remnants, and spaces, resulting in a construction of narratives that reflect the city’s physical and intangible landscape. Spatial stories and urban memories, highlight the fluidity of human relationships and how they shape the identity of our urban localities. Often, I incorporate partial depictions of statues with only an outline, giving the sense of empty bodies, frozen in time, as fragments of ancient Greek sculpture. These protagonists compose hollow monuments: working in a circle from a place to a body, and from a body to a memory.
My work is an ongoing conversation with my environment. Drawing from personal experiences and observations, I create fragments that are deeply connected to the world around me. By connecting mythology, or remnants of myths, with the urban experience, I merge the past and the present to create a contemporary discourse about a time that has passed. My goal is to describe my individual experiences, and explore the broader themes of identity, memory, and our connection to our cultural heritage.