POLINA MILIOU
It was an unloved side table that inspired Greek artist Polina Miliou to first experiment with papier-mâché. ‘I really hated the table,’ she explains, ‘so I decided to adapt and remake it using stuff from around my house – newspaper, cardboard and flour – to make paper pulp to coat the piece. It was messy and slow, but something clicked and I started making more objects.’ Charmed by the process, the former architect, who’s based between Athens and LA, began spending more time creating her idiosyncratic designs. ‘I needed to make things with my own hands,’ she says.
Like that first table, her playful, brightly coloured pieces are made using either found objects as a base, or carved Styrofoam and repurposed wood forms. These are coated in pulp, the recipe of which varies hugely. ‘I’m not very consistent; I use a big blender and different paper, then I’ll add stucco paste, glue and acrylic or powder colour,’ she explains. ‘I squeeze and slap the mixture on with my bare hands. I like the fact that you can see the process in the final piece, which makes it very personal.’
With shows at Dio Horia Gallery in Athens, Superhouse in New York and the Collectible fair in Brussels all in the pipeline, Miliou is also keen to work with other artists. ‘A collaboration with someone who uses another medium,’ she muses.
‘I’d be very interested in that.’ polinamiliou.me