I was born and raised in the centre of Thessaloniki, but I spent much of my childhood at my aunt’s home by the sea. She had a deep love for art, fashion and ancient civilizations. Together we often visited Molho Bookstore, where I discovered my first books on René Magritte, the first artist who truly left a lasting impression on me.
I still vividly remember Salvador Dalí’s exhibition at the Vellideio Conference Centre, the works of Yiannis Tsarouchis and Yannis Gaitis, and the golden wreaths of Vergina at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. Without realizing it at the time, all these images were already shaping the way I would come to see the world.
Travelling Before Creating
My relationship with my grandmother was equally formative. She was a dynamic woman who owned a travel agency and, from an early age, she would tell me that she wanted to introduce me to the world.
We travelled together to many European countries and visited some of their most important museums. Yet there was one place that left a deeper mark on me than any other: Egypt.
The old Egyptian Museum in Cairo, its antiquities, and the atmosphere of the Valley of the Kings in the warmth of spring created an experience that has never left my memory. Looking back today, I realize that this is where my fascination with ancient civilizations first began.
The Need to Create
Surrounded by all these images, I naturally began drawing and making small objects. For me, painting was never simply a form of expression; it was a way of continuing, in my imagination, the journeys I had just experienced.
People around me often said, “This child will become a painter.” Strange as it may sound, I never liked that phrase. I never wanted someone else to decide who I would become. I wanted to discover that for myself.
“Painting was my way of continuing to travel through the images I had just experienced.”
Jewellery as My First Language
A few years later, a student of French Literature showed me how to twist silver wire and make small pieces of jewellery.
What began as a game quickly evolved into my first professional activity and gave me my first sense of financial independence.
I began collecting books on the history of jewellery, its techniques and ancient civilizations. By the time I finished school, the decision had already been made. I chose to study at what was then Greece’s only jewellery school, while at the same time working alongside remarkable craftsmen who carried with them techniques and traditions from Asia Minor.
Strasbourg
After graduating, I submitted my portfolio to the Strasbourg School of Fine Arts, which at that time combined fine arts and jewellery.
Being accepted without entrance examinations marked an important moment in my life. I moved to France, but only a few months later I was forced to return to Greece for personal reasons, which I prefer to leave outside this story.
Design and Making
After returning to Athens, I established my first jewellery studio and, shortly afterwards, a second one dedicated to the design of functional objects.
It was a period of intense creativity. I collaborated with leading Greek fashion designers, creating collections for fashion shows and editorial photography, while simultaneously designing jewellery for the Greek market. Part of this work also found its way abroad.
A Small Studio and Two Cats
In the early 1990s, I began to feel that something was missing. I could not yet define it, but I knew that I no longer wanted to create within a production system of assistants and daily obligations.
What I was searching for was the quiet of a small studio, where I could return to the joy of creating on my own.
One morning, I closed both studios, helped my collaborators find new positions, and brought an important chapter of my life to an end. Most people never understood that decision.
A few months later, I presented my first solo painting exhibition. The works resembled weathered wall paintings and golden wreaths, and shortly afterwards my first jewellery exhibition followed.
In reality, however, everything had begun much earlier. It had started with those first images of my childhood and matured years later in a small studio that I shared with my two cats, Ashraf and Hermes.
Looking Back
Today, when I look back, I realize that many of the things that moved me as a child continue to appear in my work.
Ancient civilizations, museums, travel, and the need to create with my hands were never simply memories. They became the foundations upon which my personal artistic language gradually developed.
Every painting, every sculpture and every artist’s book is, in its own way, a continuation of those first images that have remained with me ever since.
