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| > Pegilides | > Ryades | > Fones | |||||||||||
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Pegylides & Ryades "Pegylides" is a collection of sculptures, twelve 'prosopa', which are moving noiselessly in the paths of Kavafi's poetry. For me it has been another voyage, an Alexandrine sail, a new stage of my dialogue with the latypes of the Parian marble. Parian marble is the divine element, which came out of the heart of Parian Land and gave birth to the most significant sculptures of the Greek antiquity. Cycladic idols, kouri and kores, Hermes of Praxitelis, the 'adolescent' of Critias, Nike of Samothraki, and Aphrodite of Melos are some of the masterpieces, which are made by Parian Marble, the unique for its lucidity, softness and transparency 'lychnitis'. Unfortunately, it has been more than seven centuries since this precious marble has been expired. Still, many small pieces, latypes (leftovers) are stored into the galleries of the ancient quarries, as well as spread onto the hills around. For the last 25 years these pieces has been a challenge for me. The process of discovering them is by itself a voyage into history and aesthetics. When you approach them with the required respect and care they allow you to feel their strength, which is hidden inside them for centuries. In my sculpture these pieces do not stand for me as a mere element, which a sculptor uses to form a real or imaginary face. They rather stand in front of me as unique entities, as heterocities, able to cause such a dialogue with the artist, able to transform both into 'prosopa'. This happens because a 'prosopon' is first and above all, a traveling being. It is an 'ego' who opens its sails, an 'I' who travels to meet a 'thou'. So my sculptures become a liberating process for the face that is hidden in each latype and this happens without altering the original shape and colour of each latype. Even the instruments I use in this process are those simple three tools, which the ancient Greek sculptors used: the needlepoint chisel, the folk point and the flat. Additionally, not only the original shape and color are visible, but also in these sculptures, the viewer can detect even the stages of the process, because the zones between the absolute untouched and the perfectly worked are left detectable in purpose. The name of each sculpture does not reveal its very being, but rather refers to the see. So their names operate the same way as our names do. We 'rise' out ancestors by giving their names to our children. Broadly, by naming ourselves in a reference to a 'saint' we define our relationship with the whole tradition of our Greek and Christian culture. This kind of reference I am attempting by naming this way my collection Pegylides. Their names are after persons from the poetry of Kavafis, the poet of Alexandria. 'Ryades' is a cycle of sculptures worked out artistically on opal. They are 12 figures, which dance with the rhythm of Elytis poetry. One day, walking around the island of Paros, searching for latypes of Lychnitis (the leftovers of the fabulous Parian marble, which has been expired since centuries) I came across with pieces of opal. Opal, the semiprecious stone with the charming texture and its milky and altering iridisms is not considered as a proper element for sculpture. The artist in sculpture, usually, seeks for an 'obedient' and transformable element, in order to work on it and materialize the image he has in mind. Opal is not like that or like lychnitis. On the contrary it is a tough and moody element. Concerning the latypes of Parian marble it is given to you the shape and the impression that each particular piece is a leftover from the "vertebra of some Zeus". It is also given to you the color which centuries have put on its surface, this "old rust". The dialogue with lychnitis is respectable and mild in the process of revealing its own face, in a way that the original shape and color of each piece is respected. On the contrary, the dialogue with Opal is 'merciless'. Opal uses its toughness in order to impose on you the demanding respect. In every violation of this agreement the result is a broken chisel. Opal becomes more negotiative and more condescending only across its 'nerves', there, where the sun and the salt of the time have taught him humility. Onto these lines we have discovered a way of mutual communication. There the solid as crystal and shining surface looks like melting and revealing light and dancing figures. The names of Ryades sculptures borrowed by the poetry of Elytis, simply, refer to the see of their very being. Aristides Varrias Chios, 2006 A Critique on Pegylides & Ryades Aristides Varrias, being an inspired creator, 'feels' and molds the Parian marble, the famous lychnitis, in a charismatic way. He molds "prosopa" which radiate besides the perfectness of the 'metier', a very advanced, above all, poetic mood. This is why the recent sculptures Pegylides, inspired by Kavafis, the 'great' Alexandrine, come to 'match' with his previous work. It couldn't be more charismatic restitution of Kavafis heroes than this, which we see and feel in the faces, which Varrias recently elaborated (sculpted). They are faces expressing reverie, expectation, prosopa which palpitate from emotions, anticipate conditions, pry memories, challenge experiences and indelible through time impressions. Prosopa, which are invincible and, at the same time, so human. In the charismatic dialogue with them, the inspired from Elytis Ryades, worked out artistically on Opal, challenge our fantasy in a charming way, through their abstract appearance. They are enrolled circularly, because of their movement, which they impose on the space all around, installing, and 'enorchestrating' an idiomatic atmosphere. They are figures and shapes, which cause inexhaustible coherences, according to the experiences of each of us. These sculptures, gifted with an "organic" substance, indicate everlasting beings. Beings, which circulate, swing, transportate and wind between us, but we do not perceive them with our common senses. That's why the sculptures of Varrias reveal to us charismatically their very beings, proving at the same time the talent of their creator. Dora Eliopoulou-Rogan Dr. History of Art - Art critic > Pegylides Gallery > Ryades Gallery |
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