FOSSILS
In the Fossils series, Mirka Drapaniotou delves deeper into the delicate interplay of fragility and permanence, continuing the dialogue initiated in her Cataphracts series. However, this new collection marks a shift in materiality and conceptual approach. The clay—earthy, rough, and granular—takes on a more robust, almost geological presence, evoking the timeless endurance of stone or ancient terra. Unlike the thin, delicate surfaces of Cataphracts, these forms are thick, solid blocks, not simply shaped but rather unearthed, pierced through in a gesture that mimics the slow erosion of time.
The piercing technique, a hallmark of Drapaniotou’s practice, here speaks less of the artist’s hand and more of the natural forces that shape the world. The forms emerge like reversed cones, referencing the archaic vessels, their evolution a quiet surrender to the forces of erosion, as if these objects—once vessels of structure and purpose—are now yielding to the elements, eroded by an invisible, inevitable tide.
This act of surrender recalls the organic sculpting found in coral reefs or the porous, weathered surfaces of sponge-like formations in the Dodecanese, where nature itself is both the creator and destroyer.
At the heart of these sculptures, an ambivalent veil—both light and fragile—rests along the horizontal axis of the primary form, suspended as if caught in the breath of time. Made from a darker, thinner clay, this veil echoes the piercing technique of the Cataphracts but possesses a subtle ethereality, as if teetering on the edge of dissolution. It is in this tension—between the solidity of the form and the vulnerability of the veil—that Drapaniotou creates a narrative of transformation, where strength and fragility coexist in an eternal balance.