Info

My work:

Human behavior. How do we shape our behavior and is it a result of our ancestors and our environment? In order to better understand my own behavior, I dive into the past, because that is where all the knowledge is. When making art you always show yourself. I use the past of my close environment as inspiration for my paintings and collages. That is why my background plays an important role in my creativity.

My mother is Dutch and my father is Greek so I grew up with two cultural backgrounds. That thought influenced my creativity and I tried to make it visually clear by incorporating these two cultural backgrounds into my work. For example, I used elements from both sides, such as painted areas inspired by the Christian Orthodox Iconography and the collage areas where I used cut-out figures from old Dutch books.

A composition that arises from the history of both contrasting backgrounds that are developed into a unity.





Iconography:




The influence and admiration of the Byzantine Iconography is visible in my work. I grew up in a small village in Greece, were tradition and religion played a big role for most of the people living there. In the painted Icons of the Christian Orthodox Church, I found a familiar feeling. A connection with my background. These artworks represent the people of this place, including me. I did not perceived them only as religious artifacts. In fact, I want to take this image out of its religious purpose. Even if it is impossible, because people will always make a connection to God when they see an Icon. I like to play with this thought and use this powerful aesthetic in a different way. Without desecrating the religion and the believers. I do not want to become an Icon painter. I want to study and use Iconography so that I can express myself by creating my very own form of art.




 
Collage:




Black and white photos of people are placed in a colorful landscape, in perspective match.
As if they actually belong to the background and adapt to it.
The images of these persons are individually captured in different time sets on the same place. 
They end up making a connection with each other.
As if this new scenery, has also taken place.
The characters of all those sceneries misbehave, as they are in a place, they do not belong to, even if they perfectly fit there.
The empty and quite landscapes are now full of people who disturb the stillness.
They react with the background and with each other, giving an absurd meaning to the story that is been created.