On the evening of July 3rd, I presented my master’s thesis at the Modesteio School of Pisoderi, within the framework of the postgraduate program “Visual Arts and Landscape” of the Department of Visual and Applied Arts of the School of Fine Arts of the University of Western Macedonia, as well as the International Conference WAC25.
This artistic proposal explores the dynamic relationship between absence and presence and attempts a poetic synthesis of the visible and the invisible, activating memory as an act of presence in time and space.
Luminous portraits emerging from light boxes, installed along the staircase of Modesteios School of Pisoderi, the village of my father, retrieve memories, while simultaneously forming new narratives, granting the past a renewed existence. Light is transformed from a natural phenomenon into a vehicle of recollection and becomes an ally of presence.
At the same time, the figures of children who once attended the Modesteios School appear illuminated in the windows, suggesting their presence within the spacem while also opening a transaction of boundlessness with the world.
Primary sounds of human experience produced by the human body—such as breathing, the beating of the heart, a child’s laughter, footsteps on dry leaves—interwoven together, form a soundscape that functions as a carrier of emotional memory and embodied recall.
Through the projection mapping on the rear side of the building, an attempt is made to reconstruct the history of the village as it unfolded around the axis of the Modesteios School, a witness-building bearing the traces of the most decisive events. It is not merely a backdrop, but becomes the protagonist of a silent narrative. Thus, the viewer does not simply observe the work, but “enters” the space and experiences history as a contemporary spectacle, rich in stimuli and images that activate the senses. The performative dimension of the projection acts as a bridge between representation and reality, allowing desires, intentions, and emotions to be projected in a more immediate and flexible way.
As a result of the above, through empathy and the activation of the senses, Pisoderi and the Modesteios School are transformed into sites of testimony and embodied narrative experience. Ultimately, the work constitutes a poetic act of light that heals the trauma of loss and reveals the unseen.
With the presentation of my master’s thesis at the historic Modesteios School of Pisoderi, the cycle of my postgraduate studies came to an end. It was a unique journey of deepening into artistic expression and creation through the exploration of landscape. I would like to warmly thank all my professors for the invaluable knowledge and experiences they offered me over these two years. Special thanks to Yannis Ziogas for all his support. I also thank Zoi Godosi and Filippos Kalamaras. I am grateful to my husband Konstantinos Poulkos for the great help he provided, as well as to Thomas Moussias. I hope Pisoderi will become a place for many more artistic actions.
