Chinese lore inspires Greek artist’s show
ATHENS — Chinese myths, legends and traditions inspired Greek artist Marianna Ignataki’s sixth solo exhibition, Josie, the Armor and the Hairman, at Athens’ CAN Gallery.
For Ignataki, a visual artist who works from Beijing and Thessaloniki in northern Greece, the body serves as a “den” for a series of sculptures, watercolors and pencil drawings, and a video installation.
“I am interested in mythology but what inspires me most are the paradoxes in Chinese history, culture and everyday life, as seen through my Western eyes,” Ignataki said in a recent interview.
Parts and extensions of the human body, such as fingernails, hair and feet, become symbols depicting the mysterious world of the Greek artist influenced by Chinese philosophy.
“I have always been interested in body extensions as a metaphor for certain psychoemotional and sociopolitical situations, particularly because of their ability to vol- untarily cancel, isolate or redefine the body.”
According to Confucius, hair does not belong to man but to his ancestors. Cutting it is both a terrible blasphemy and self-mutilation, he believed. From ancient to recent Chinese history, both length and style of hair were associated with social status, ethnicity and even political beliefs.
Also, very small feet (lotus feet) for women and very long fingernails for both men and women were linked to social status. Women from wealthy families used to bind their feet, since they did not need their legs to work, the Greek artist noted. Foot binding was later adopted as the main symbol of beauty and elegance in Chinese society, she adds.
The silhouette of the hand with fingernails forming a cocoon, the dancing fingers that shape an inverted lotus and hair braids that wrap around the body to become nests are regular patterns that have replaced motifs like the mask, the beak and the transformations encountered in Ignataki’s earlier work.
Living in China is “an experience of a lifetime”, she said. She moved to Beijing in 2010 following her husband who was living and working there.
From Day 1, her surroundings influenced her work. She turned to watercolor techniques as she became interested in the fine textures of traditional Chinese painting.
“I started understanding more about the way Asian artists perceive the world, the earth, their bodies, etc. A few contemporary Chinese artists whom I really like are Yang Fudong, Yang Mushi, Mao Yan, Li Sa, Sun Xun, Tao Hui and Yan Xing,” she said.
Ignataki acknowledged it was essential to work in culturally diverse environments.
At the beginning, life in China was difficult for her, especially due to the language barrier, but she found similarities between Greeks and Chinese.
“Chinese people are quite warm and easily approachable. They like to ‘occupy’ public spaces all day long like Greeks do. Also, they casually hang out in outdoor taverns, and they often buy their friends drinks and dinner,” she said.
Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions around Europe and China over the past 13 years.