2023 – IMPRINTS OF TRUST | Panos Pristouris

IMPRINTS OF TRUST

Energetic lines and pulsating points in Panos Pristouris’ woodcut prints

Panos Pristouris’ work encapsulates strong iconographic elements, clarity of forms as well as it entails an ongoing experimentation on themes, sometimes expressed through representation or even abstract compositions. Printmaking unravels as a means of introspection, but also as a way of establishing a connection and a deeper understanding of the relationship between the self, the world and the surrounding environment. His artistic trajectory has been shaped through his academic studies on printmaking, his personal systematic engagement with the medium and his role in art education. In his recent work the artist explores depictions of his own body, as well as the internal expressiveness and the multiple tones and textures of point and line, while encountering internal psychological and emotional transitions that emerge through the various stages of the creative process.

The concept of line and point are explored, along with their combination, their organization in the engraving work and ultimately their chromatic rendering. Through the creative process of engraving, inking and printing, points and lines gain energy, vitality, and movement is emphasized. Within this context of recognizing and re-examining the structural elements of an artistic work, Panos Pristouris does not hesitate to include parts of himself or his whole silhouette into the illustration.

The artist fragments the image of his own body and places it in a position from where he can self-observe and introspect himself. By performing this dual role, he attempts to reinvent the embodied self through idiosyncratic compositions. In doing so, he shifts the viewer’s perspective from close-up to long shot; from the fine detail of texture to the comprehensive whole picture; from proximity and intimacy to distance and detachment. In varying the point of observation of the body each time, the artist renegotiates the notion of boundaries – both towards himself and the spectator – counterbalancing the relationship between the inside and outside, the self and the world, reinventing a new vocabulary for interpreting identity that ultimately opens up an intimate space of trust, self-awareness and empowerment.

Curatorial text: Vassia Magoula, Art historian – Museologist