My work explores the concept of Haptic Perception and the creation of a haptic system (from the Greek haptós, meaning “suitable to touch”). It aims to challenge our capacity to percieve though the senses and allow sense perception to become an instrument of knowledge.
Through my work, I engage with materials that include fabric, gypsum, wood chips, and rope, and study their ability to produce a tactile experience. In my process, the materials become the subject matter and my aim is to create an artwork that will heighten sensory engagement encouraging the viewer to actively explore my work. My Chemistry background helps me interact with the materials in a different more complex way. By understanding their properties and chemical composition, I manipulate and transform them, challenging our notion of reality, questioning what we see, what we feel and what we are able to understand. A simple stone for example, or a piece of rope or string intruiges me to explore them further at my practice. A stone is hard but not always strong. It can be fragile, it can be brittle. As I interact with it different characteristcs and emotions are revealed – sometimes obvious, sometimes surprising. Similarly, a piece of rope or string can stay soft or can tense and harden like steel. Materials have their own personality and I am fascinated with exploring them further through my practice.
My work is influenced by the process artists of the 1960s, the cultural heritage of my greek roots and the vibrant energy of New York City where I lived and worked until 2018. These influences converge in a practice that is simultaneously personal and universal, grounded in tradition yet open to constant evolution. The birth of my third child in 2022 profoundly influenced my work with themes of femininity and motherhood. This period led me to explore a symbiotic relationship between the maternal body and Mother Nature, an exploration vividly embodied in the series titled “Pumping Bags” (2022-2024). Here, the physical and symbolic realities of becoming a mother merge, revealing the powerful and elemental connection between nurturing life and the natural world.
Looking ahead, my goal is to deepen this exploration of materials, to expand into new mediums and collaborative projects and to further develop my interdisciplinary approach.
