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Art, in all its forms, be it visual art or literature, performing arts or plastic arts, or any other art variant is one of the best vehicles that can lead us to experience original or authentic emotions, while being the very creators of the emotions we want to experience.
As the creation of any art is closely connected with the dream state, interlacing the conscious and unconscious minds, all artists use the same source or material that is the human experience and it is the exceptional uniqueness or individuality pointing out and building on the shared human performance that makes an artwork great.
Irregardless of what an artist wants to express, no matter what he or she wants to convey, eventually it is the viewer, the observer who fundamentally assigns the meaning of each object or work of art, and by doing that the viewer determines the effect of that assignment as positive or negative, like or dislike.
Although the viewer may point out patterns, assign the artwork to a certain art movement, connect the images or symbols to those in other artworks, this may have little to do with the artist's interpretation of his own symbols, or with his personal experience.
At the end of the day, it matters not if the viewer fully “mentally” understands the artist's enveloped ideas and concepts. However, one’s conscious willingness to observe an artwork is translated into an unconscious willingness to observe if he/she harmonically resonates with the vibration of that particular artwork. Furthermore, when the observer allows himself to vibrate sympathetically with the vibration of the artwork, when this synchronicity happens, he gets a good feeling, a positive effect, and implicitly he appreciates the work of art.
The question I have asked myself is how “little” is needed to create emotion? How minimal can a minimalist artwork be so as to generate in the viewer the desire to observe a work of art?
As a perhaps natural extension of the above introspection in creating this series I was inspired by the oldest pieces of prehistoric art ever discovered, created by the so called “modern man” such as the Blombos Cave Engravings (Mousterian period of the Middle Palaeolithic about 70,000 BC) which is one of the oldest pieces of sub-Saharan African art containing two pieces of ochre rock engraved with geometric abstract signs and a series of beads made from Nassarius kraussianus shells and the big Circular Cupules that pre-dates the Acheulean culture of the Lower Palaeolithic era (290,000-700,000 BC).
Using only one or a few charcoal lines or several dots I want to arouse the viewers’ imagination, I want the viewers to get over trivial questions such as "what did the artist mean or what did he or she want to say?" From a rather broader perspective, It is utterly unimportant what any artist wants to transmit through his artworks, it matters what the viewers are getting out of it, since when creating the artwork the artist has one thing into his mind while the viewers can get dozens of other ideas and thoughts and eventually feelings or emotions from the very same artwork.
As art creation springs from a combination of thoughts and therefore emotions, enjoying an artwork is not only therapeutic, but it also highlights the ethereal wedding of the conscious and unconscious mind, transforming the viewer into a creator per se.
Just as a photograph is the re-creation of something that was previously created, in the very same way the viewer, from his own inner identity, is the re-creator of any artwork. The viewer’s conscious mind arose to open up choices, to free him from a one-road experience and feelings (e.g. “what did the artist want to say?”), to let one use his or her creativity to form diversified, wide-ranging comprehensions.
NOTES
The series comprises 22 artworks.
Charcoal on UART Premium Pastel Paper
Sanded Paper · 300 gsm · PH Neutral · Acid Free
Cotton Museum Board (Rising)
Mount: White & Black
Print Size: 110W x 140 H cm
Mount Size: 110 W x 140 H cm