All of Creation Rejoices in Thee 

Stones, fabric, wood, ashes, wax, found objects

2022 

1200 cm x 100 cm 

My work here in Meteora is a twelve-meter-long installation on a golden walkway outside the museum. Generally, my work is made within nature and out of nature itself. It is also made of my own human nature as well and my experiences of love and faith. 

The found and created objects refer to my autobiography, addressing the theme of memory and the flow of images, symbols and signs encountered on the path of destiny. The act of collecting is dear to me, as it is in some sense a meditative process: I choose each object and give it meaning. This assemblage is a somewhat conceptual practice, exploring the essence and comparative value of art. This installation is full of ambiguity, delicately treading the thin line between original and reproduction, and handmade versus “readymade” a-la Duchamp. However, I prefer to blur it even more and take it further. Another dichotomy I wanted to play with was poetry/written word and the visual aspects of each item. Both intertwine and better reveal one another as much as they differ which calls for a greater sensitivity to the ways in which the audience looks, reads and remembers. 

My golden bundle unfolds gently like a scroll of parchment. I would like to emphasize its continuity, rather than its possible status as a series of raggle-taggle trouvailles. The track has its own rhythm, similar to an exercise in solfeggio (sight-singing in music): the visitor can immerse themselves into it, stop by an object that they feel a special bond with or is curious about. They can touch, read, contemplate, or bring it close to their body to create an intensified ephemeral connection with it. I would like the spectator to tell me what this object means to them and what they feel. By doing this, the visitor penetrates the personal space of the author. They bring their experiences and interpretations and change the fabric of the narrative with their presence, just as every object, person or force of nature can become an actor influencing our destiny. 

After soaking in the rich local colours and light scope, I have used the deep lapis-lazuli-like-blues, golds, greens and oranges from Byzantine icons and mosaics. I believe that these colours have a healing power for humans, giving them a sense of love and wholeness. All of Creation Rejoices in Thee is also about the evolution of time and landscape; from the ocean to a hilly place with cliffs, life evolves in a spiral in its transformative qualities. This work is also about life circles and the transformative features of life. Love and life never end. The performance is composed of walking, or perhaps swimming, through the golden river and stopping by the objects. Firstly, I pause by the nest. It was my first day here. I woke up in the morning and went out on the balcony. Two birds were sitting there under the roof. They were so close, kissing and hugging each other. Then, the male bird flew away and came back a moment after with a branch. He gave it to her. She caressed him and threw the branch on the floor of my balcony. I thought that they were about to make a nest, but why would they throw the branch to me then? For three days they were coming, bringing more and more branches and then they left and never came back. The second object I will stop by is the egg. The third is the icon: I have never felt so good in front of an artwork.