INTERVIEW: Maria Stamati – dreamideamachine ART VIEW

On the occasion of Maria Stamati’s and Costas Vittis’, two-person exhibition “Without Which, Not / Sine Qua Non” at Eikastikos Kyklos DL Gallery, we are in conversation with Maria Stamati about her new body of work, which focuses on the human being, where their presence is intense through absence. Stamati re-conceptualizes an expressive painting, which together with words, yarn, lace and building grid, creates artworks full of emotion and familiarity. A profound emotion that touches on human existential boundaries, which often transcends them through expression, raising questions and concerns that constitute the contemporary narrative.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Maris Stamati’s Archive

Unraveling the thread of narration in your works, there are three structural elements. Painting, expressive painting as you define it, threads, and language. Which is the most important element for you and where do you start a work from?

My works are palimpsestς of concepts, materials, and symbolisms. The inspiration for an artwork is a contemplation, a concept, a fact of life, a behavior… and I usually start with painting, which I am interested in shaping the image and the correlations behind the inspiration. At the same time, I gather materials, which are full of associations and symbols, and the reasons that records the world in our consciousness.

We know that alongside your visual works, you consistently write poetry, which holds a significant part of your life, that is why you do not only use poetry in your artworks but also you are publishing books. What does publication and books mean to you?

Many people love poetry, but few read it. I publish my books because I feel that the poems in drawers are entrapped, and I want them to come out into the sun and walk with people. How many will greet them, that’s another matter. However, it happens that some people smile at us on the street, or we hear something by chance that we don’t forget.

Yarns, a beloved expressive medium for many years, but in your new series of works, it is combined with construction mesh. What role does the coexistence of a humble material such as construction mesh, which is both sturdy, and threads and lace that evoke female fragility, play?

The construction mesh, which builds and structures, is the media that experientially and with focus, I use to weave my discourse. It “interacts” and “coexists” with other expressive media because none of us is one-track mind also the essence and beauty lie in dialogue and exchange.

All of the above media create a visual world that is permeated deeply by emotion.

You are right, I am interested in being moved and not just the feeling. Feeling is an immediate and personal reaction, while being moved goes to deeper layers and knocks on the door of most people. And when it is uninvited, as Art brings it, then its hands are full of gifts.

Although the human presence is not apparent in your artworks, their focal point is on people. Are you concerned with human existence and all that agonize it?

“Yes, exactly, I am concerned about everything is happening to us whether it troubles us or not, perhaps most of the time it’s worth taking another look at them. The answers don’t matter, the process starts when the question is posed. And that’s what Art does.”

Finishing up, and before I thank you, I was thinking that during the period of lockdown and quarantine, there was a heated expatiation regarding the disembodiment and digitalization of art through technology, with online exhibitions, works, and participations. At the same time, many artists experienced lockdown as a period of mourning and lost time, while you, as we know, worked very hard. What did this period mean for you?

This period was very creative because time is a factor that creates space for analysis and experimentation. Productivity is of less importance compared to the refinement of perception and channels of expression.

Download Greek Version here

Info: Curator: Efi Michalarou, Ikastikos Kiklos DL Gallery, 6 Akadimias avenue, Athens, Greece, Duration: 10/2-4/3/2023, Days & Hours: Tue & Thu-Fri 11:00-20:00, Wed-Sat 11:00-16:00, https://ikastikoskiklos.com/el/