Maria Ikonomopoulou

My work blends photography and handwritten texts with a range of techniques related to Folk Arts, like embroidery and paper cut outs. The use of traditional techniques does connect with the fundamental questioning of the balance between the collective and the individual that my work is about. The Crafts are made by traditional rules, but there creators have, though staying anonymous, always displayed a personal touch within those rules. Characteristic for my commissioned work is the participation of many people in the process. A growing collection of first names, based on my fascination that we wear common names though we are unique beings, has also been used in studio work like photographs and an installation ‘You and Me’. The project ‘Growing Care’ observes the edges of public space. In various cities I photograph wall gardens and flowerbeds that are individually take care of and donated to the public space. These documents are then transformed into installations called ‘City Flowers’. Interventions are short actions in which handmade objects are situated in public space and are given away to (or taken by) people. The interaction between the works for public space with many people involved, the studio pieces made in solitude and the interventions is to me very inspiring and complementary.

 

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