Eleni Theofylaktou creates an imaginary, surreal, and inverted universe that humorously mirrors real life. She crafts immersive visual narratives that transcend time and reason. Fantasy and reality are blurred in a way that makes it impossible to identify the beginning and end of her story and the flow of events. Strangely enough, her art brilliantly resonates with the absurdity and chaos of our times.

Her peculiar stories invite the viewer to explore the extraordinary within the ordinary and vice versa. By recontextualizing familiar objects and imbuing them with new meanings, she approaches her art by silencing the rational mind, allowing her subconscious to express itself. Her art seems to emerge instinctively, rooted in a spiritual process guided by her heart and intuition as it evokes deep emotional resonance. Her work reflects a deliberate and mindful approach, embodying structural integrity while maintaining an underlying poetic dimension. Her art is a celebration of creative sensitivity and intellectual exploration, designed to inspire and elevate those who encounter it.

Eleni Theofylaktou studied at the Drama School of Roula Pateraki (1984-1986) and at the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1986-1991). She completed her postgraduate studies in painting and visual theories at the University of East London (2001-2002). She teaches at the School of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

She has presented her work in many solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. She has participated in residencies, workshops and artistic exchanges in the Netherlands, Finland, France, Serbia and Turkey. Due to her theatrical studies, she has often expressed her artistic reflection through other expressive means beyond painting surfaces such as performance and video installations.

Eleni Theofylaktou talks to Greek News Agenda* about her inverted realities, subject matters and underlying influences.

Are your works autobiographical? What personal elements do you see in them?

Let’s say you take a walk; you cross paths with an old man asking for help or a stray animal. That’s an autobiographical element-trigger. Or you wake up and see a grey veil covering everything with fog. Everything around us affects us and defines us in a way.

A few hours later, you see these events are present in your work. I have always thought that the artist in some way systematically writes his autobiography. Everyone claims his truth through writing, painting etc. The more journeys you make, mostly spiritual, the richer material you collect to work with. In this sense, I can potentially characterize all my works as autobiographical. Of course, for the artwork to take shape, a miracle needs to happen. A shocking humiliation.

What are the themes that concern you as an artist?

At this point I must say that the issues that concern me as a human being (and therefore as an artist) are the serious problems that concern humanity; the fallacy, the shattered logic, the pursuit of things that do not matter, the distortion of beauty, the unfulfilled dream and the lack of respect. Similar problems are on my mind and just like gray star clusters they are becoming thicker or thinner. And since I happen to be an artist, I process them as an artist. The problem begins when this has to be transformed into visual discourse, where the technical issues of formulation begin so that I do not fool myself or others.

How does the conscious and the unconscious come together in art?

I think that in art everything comes with an alarm. If something is untrue it will be swallowed up by the rest or they will all burn together. I very much believe in mathematical precision, methodical creation, in a peaceful dilation-contraction of the metaphysical and the physical world, in an internal organization of the artistic universe. But the fire needs to be continuous so that we are not led into a prolonged chill. In my opinion, even in the hardest artwork, a touch of tenderness must be maintained.

In your works there is often the depiction of a subversive universe. Can art turn things around?

If art had this power, it would have done it already. What it can do, however, is that it can influence the way we see the world. Of course, this applies to the ones who are willing to “hear” and “see” it. Some people are so synchronized with the current reality that they cannot be inspired by art. For example, if someone cannot rejoice in the brilliance of Bernhard or Beckett, he is deprived of the magical experience of the wonderful “call”.

As far as I am concerned, I cannot tell if my works are subversive or if they can cause a rupture in our world because I am completely aligned with them, in terms of the way I exist and think.

How have your drama studies influenced your work as a visual artist?

I studied Drama long before I found myself at the School of Fine Arts. The experience and knowledge I accumulated in Drama School will always follow me. Theatre is a heavenly orchestra and I think it is very close to visual arts, poetry… I see no differences. Without them I think life would be pointless. Theater influences my work, which is natural, just like everything we have at some point done in the past in our lives.

The female element has been depicted in your art in a very unique way. Is it still a subject matter for you?

The female element has always been crucial in my art, especially in my earlier works. In recent years, though, it is fading away. Of course, the female nature (and I happen to be a woman) tends to always sneak in some element of feminine activity e.g. an embroidery or a braid…

Lately, my interest has shifted toward issues concerning humans in general. My recent works as well as my latest exhibition “Wonderful Times” is a somewhat ironic objection to the way people are misguided, in my opinion, towards fear and supposed threats, so that the population is forced to live in the fumes of chaos.

*Interview by Dora Trogadi

TAGS: ARTS