UKIYO-E ECHO….

The majority of the works in this series were created for my participation in the group exhibition “Aesthetic Dialogues under the Light of the Rising Sun – Japanese Art by Greek Artists” which took place in 2015 at the Athens Center, curated by sculptor and visual artist Maria Gkizi, in Athens. My works are inspired by a style of painting and printmaking called Ukiyo-e, which flourished in Japan between the 17th and 20th centuries, and its name translates to “floating world” representing the transient nature of life. It experienced significant development in the urban centers of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Kyoto, and Osaka. The four-leaf screen “Black Duck Choreography”, was created in 2009 for a group exhibition at the Black Duck Multiplarte gallery and is accompanied by the following text from the book “Tao Te Ching”, from Lao Tzu. … After he had taken his leave, Confucius said to his disciples: “Birds fly, fishes swim, animals run. These things I know. But the runner may be snared, the swimmer hooked, and the flyer shot by the arrow. But Dragons? They’re capable of mounting on the wind, fly alongside clouds and soar into the sky. That goes beyond my comprehension. Today, I met Lao Tzu! Quite the Dragon, he is!”