Selfhood - Eleana Chrysanthou Petoussi

Aigaia “Visual Arts Hospitality” programme presents "Selfhood", a solo exhibition of the work of Artist and Educator Eleana Chrysanthou Petoussi, in which the artist deals with the idea of identity through a new series of paintings. The exhibition will be opened by Dr. Eleni Theocharous, Member of the European Parliament on Friday 5th of February at 7:30pm at Aigaia School of Art and Design in Nicosia.

Paul Ricoeur differentiates two major meanings of identity. The first of these is the genetic “sameness” of the self’s physicality—for which “permanence in time constitutes the highest order”. This notion is best appreciated by considering “how we see photos of ourselves at successive stages of our life.” We are struck by an “ordered series of small changes which taken one by one, threaten resemblance without destroying it.” The second meaning of identity is the more elusive concept of “selfhood”—a constructed, dynamic “narrative identity”: Unlike the abstract identity of the “Same”, this narrative identity, constitutive of self-constancy, can include change, mutability, within the cohesion of one lifetime.

“The narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative identity, in constructing that of the story told. It is the identity of the story that makes the identity of the character” (Oneself as Another, Ricoeur).

Eleana’s work is inspired by familiar faces, urban landscapes, still-lifes and by her own immediate environment to create monumental works with the use of traditional and mixed media techniques mostly on canvas, paper and wood. Her paintings are based on strict compositions and contrasts both in meaning and in colour. With the use of symbols the artist creates her general state of mind and personal identity both as a person and as a creator.

“In our time, defeated by trends and glamor, Eleanas paintings seem like an island of noble values. Her compositions are full of unexpected associations and plastic findings often paradoxical conceptual. The visual language of the artist is defined by a unique artistic style which offers the viewer an ideal, noble world of high ethics, made of rigid beauty and perfection, full of respect and pride of her ancestry and culture”.
(S.A.Gavriliashenko, Professor).

Eleana Chrysanthou was born in Nicosia, 1982. She studied fine arts in the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I.Suricov, in Russia. She is specialized in monumental art with professor E.N.Maximov and graduated with honorary diploma. Since then, she lives and works in Cyprus, as an artist and as an Educator at Aigaia School of Art and Design. She participated in group exhibitions and art contests in Cyprus and Russia receiving distinctions and awards. In 2010 she had her first solo exhibition in Gallery Gloria, Nicosia. Paintings of her are found in government owned and private collections.

The exhibition will be open from the 5th until the 19th of February at the exhibition spaces of Aigaia School of Art and Design in Nicosia.

Visiting Hours
Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 1:00pm & 3:00 - 7:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 1:00pm & 3:00 - 6:00pm
Sunday: 3:00 - 6:00pm