A starting point for my journey in the arts… could be my admission to the Athens School of Fine Arts in 2005. In the past I had studied Business Administration and Marketing and had worked as a marketing executive for some years. It was something I did consistently, but not with passion. So, in 2004 I decided to turn toward what I had always loved but never dared to pursue. Those years of study were very demanding, and what I learned was extremely interesting. In my thesis I had already presented works on the themes of medicine, and the healing of the soul and the body.
In 2013 I presented my first solo exhibition at Kappatos Gallery in Athens entitled PHARMAKON, and in 2016 my second solo exhibition at Lola Nikolaou Gallery in Thessaloniki entitled PLACEBO. In 2017 I participated in a three-person exhibition at the Averoff Museum in Metsovo (M. Katzourakis, P. Kliafa, V. Gerodimos), and in 2019 in another three-person exhibition at Lola Nikolaou Gallery (G. Lappas, A. Liti, P. Kliafa). A few days ago, my solo exhibition titled “Healing the Grid” at Zoumboulakis Gallery in Athens came to a close.
In parallel and up to today, I have participated in many group exhibitions and art fairs in Greece and abroad, and several of my works have entered important private and public collections (Museums) in Greece as well as foundations and private collections abroad.
An advertisement for a pill in a magazine gave me the spark… to engage with the subject, while I was still studying at the School of Fine Arts. I began to paint pills and to wonder “whether it is really necessary for medicines to be advertised, or if it is self-evident that one would take them if needed to treat an illness or relieve a discomfort.” Gradually I discovered how rich, timeless, and universal a subject medicine is and the conceptual extensions it carries, as well as how many possibilities and varieties it offers as material for the creation of artworks.
I use pills and their packaging both for their aesthetic value and because they act as carriers of meaning and associations. The pills with their various colors and shapes, the capsules and blister packs with their transparency and shine, or the aluminum blisters that are small sculptures in themselves, create a multitude of materials and ideas that I use just as another artist might use paints, clay, mosaics, etc. In my chandeliers the transparent capsules become small crystals reflecting light; in my shields the blisters give the impression of an impenetrable metallic surface; in the “wallpaper” made of pharmacy bags the orderly accumulation of plastic becomes a contemporary palimpsest of city imagery. The possibilities are endless.
I believe that over the years, although I continue to work with themes of healing and medicine, my work evolves both on the level of meaning—as I constantly examine different facets of these themes—and on the level of form, materials, and mediums. Medicine and healing are a large “umbrella” with many subtopics related to science, our lifestyle, and contemporary issues, all of which serve as sources of inspiration for me. I feel that there are still so many subjects that concern me and that I have not yet been able to address in my work, as well as many materials I collect that I have not yet used in the right way. This fact, along with the alternation of artistic mediums—painting, sculpture, assemblage, collage, “mosaic,” wallpapers, digital media, installations—and the constant research required, keeps my interest always alive and undiminished.
My most recent solo exhibition, titled “Healing the Grid” at Zoumboulakis Galleries… included a large central sculptural chandelier in the shape of an inverted ziggurat and two illuminated columns made from capsule-pills, as well as a series of wall-mounted and sculptural assemblages composed of pill blisters. The installation was completed with a large wall collage made of pharmacy bags.
It was an exhibition based on the intersections of art and medicine, focusing on medicine, the healing of body and soul, and the environmental impact of medical/pharmaceutical waste, curated by Dr. Sozita Goudouna. It represented a continuation of my work—both conceptually, in terms of the issues explored, and formally, in terms of structure and materials. The pressure exerted by the pace of life in cities and in the hyper-connected Western world, the search for meaning through material and immaterial grids, and the tendency to address these pressures through medication rather than through radical changes to ourselves and our daily lives, were the central themes of the exhibition. “Healing the Grid” is not only a thematic approach; it is also personal. With each work I try to reach closer to an essence. I would say that this exhibition marked a turning point—not a severing from the past, but a conceptual deepening and a morphological expansion.
Regarding the fact that the exhibition was held at Zoumboulakis Gallery, I am very happy to collaborate with such a historic and well-organized gallery, and it is an honor for me that my work was presented there, where so many important artists have exhibited for decades. Zoumboulakis Gallery has always been pioneering and has hosted landmark exhibitions in the history of Greek and international art. I tried to engage with the space by creating a large “installation” with works that formed a harmonious whole, and I believe it was an ideal setting for my work. Also, with this exhibition my aim was to expand my themes from the personal (healing of the body) to the social (healing of the grid, of the city) and to unify the mediums I use into a cohesive artistic language with conceptual consistency and environmental awareness. The exhibition also gave me great joy, satisfaction, and feedback, as it allowed me to reach and engage in dialogue with a very broad audience.
It is true that I love large-scale works and installations… In such works the body is not just a passive viewer; it becomes a co-creator of the experience. In this exhibition, and especially in the central installation, my aim—also through the use of light—was for the viewer to take part. Not to forget the city or the various grids that surround them, but to see them differently—to notice how they themselves are inscribed within the grid. I would like the healing to be physical as well, not only intellectual or abstract: to move from sensation and observation to participation. Large-scale artworks that use light have a special power to activate the viewer in ways that transcend the traditional experience of looking. You don’t simply look at the work—you are inside it. The light fills the space, touches the body, affects vision, and often creates conditions that require physical movement and adjustment. It can influence mood (relaxation, tension, awe) and activate mechanisms of attention and perception—it makes the viewer observe actively rather than passively.
Art and creation, in all their forms—not only the visual arts… have the power to help us become better humans, though not in an automatic or “easy” way. It is a path of inner cultivation because they bring us into contact with ourselves, open us toward others with empathy and understanding, teach us patience, discipline, resilience in the face of failure and constant critique, and connect us with something greater and transcendent, like “inspiration.”
Art helps us become more truthful, more sensitive, more aware. The fact that someone creates or engages with Art does not automatically mean they are evolving as a person. Art is a path, not a guarantee.
One may walk this path searching for their truth; another may walk it chasing recognition or the glitter of the “ego.” This is why we see, throughout Art History, artists full of arrogance—or even with a very dark side—who nevertheless produce remarkable works. The ability to create does not necessarily equate to inner maturity or ethics.
Greece exists in my work… It is difficult to define in a few words what “Greece” means, but let us assume it is the light and clarity of composition, the simplicity and measure of forms, the dialogue with tradition—ancient, Byzantine, or folk—the spirituality and faith, as well as contemporary life and everyday experience. In my work it is expressed as spirit, memory, and cultural sensitivity.
I draw inspiration from folk and religious tradition—as in the works Pillow, Bouchiaropodia, Omphalio—where I reinterpret the motifs of Greek weavings and mosaics using contemporary materials (pills), transferring symbols of faith and healing into the present era. I also draw inspiration from ancient and Byzantine architecture—as in the sculptures/columns made of capsules or “dressed” with blister packs, and in the work Templo—as well as from everyday life, such as the collage made of pharmacy plastic bags and the pharmacy cross (the work titled “CHANGE”).
I connect the past with the present, our roots with healing, the sacred with the everyday, the handmade with the industrial, expressing a contemporary form of Greekness that is not limited to images but reflects a way of thinking and experiencing. Using these materials transfers traditional forms into a contemporary context, where the need for healing, balance, and faith takes on a new, universal dimension. It is a way of creating art that draws from the past without remaining in it, a form of identity that evolves with its time.
I have carried out research on the possibility of creating furniture… other objects, or even sculptures using materials from pharmaceutical and medical waste. The idea of recycling plastics and other useless or used materials to create new objects has already been successfully applied, and this reuse is both important and fascinating. The upcycling of pharmaceutical and medical waste has even greater value because it could motivate more people to collect these materials, not discard them carelessly, and realize how harmful they can be to the environment when they contain pharmaceutical substances. In general, I believe strongly in giving especially non-biodegradable objects a second life and the opportunity to become useful again in another form, and I hope to find a way to bring this idea to fruition.
I am already participating, in parallel with my solo exhibition, in a group exhibition titled “Elements of Harmony” in New York, also curated by Dr. Sozita Goudouna, under the auspices of the organization Greece in USA, as well as in the group exhibition of artists’ books titled “BOOKMORPHS: Artists’ Books from Greece & the United Kingdom” at the Hellenic Centre in London, featuring Greek and British artists. The exhibition is curated by Project 2 Athens (Fiona Mouzakiti & Despina Stavrou) and Christina Mitrentse, with the catalogue introduction written by the Director of the Hellenic Centre, Dr. Nadja Giakoumakis. The opening took place successfully a few days ago, and the exhibition has been drawing a large audience.
In 2026 I am planning a solo exhibition in Thessaloniki at Lola Nikolaou Gallery. Some other projects/exhibitions are still in the planning stage.
After Healing the Grid, it is highly likely that I will continue to explore and work on themes related to art, science, and society—and especially medicine, the biopolitics of the body, urbanism, and healing. These are timeless and always relevant subjects, because there is always something new that arises: from the everyday and ordinary to the groundbreaking and unexpected, like the recent pandemic. They are issues that concern all humanity and our very existence.
