lives and works in Athens and New York.
Zoe Keramea is an artist who explores enfolded surfaces using sculpture, printmaking, drawing and ceramics. She was born in Athens, Greece in 1955 and graduated from the Universität der Künste in Berlin with a Meisterschülerin Degree in 1981. In 1989 she was awarded a Fulbright Grant for independent research in printmaking to work on her new intaglio printing technique, “zoetype”, in New York. She has shown her work in numerous individual and group exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world, taught workshops in universities and museums and published numerous artist’s books.The digital version of her Mandala Memory game, including 54 paper cut-out images, presented by The Dukode Studio NY, is available as an App at the iTunes App Store. It was awarded a 3rd place prize in Best App Ever Awards 2010.
Her artworks, restless, nervous and a combination of bold, intense surfaces, often create a three-dimensional illusion out of the two-dimensional space of the paper. Then again, two dimensional stripes of paper are folded into multiple-surfaced structures sewn together to create intricate sculptures. Their completion, which in the beginning seems impossible, is carried out with intense effort and a lot of patient work.
Available works:
World Serpent Mandala, 2001, hand-cut paper, 181 x 181 cm framed
Fire Mandala, 2001, hand-cut paper, 181 x 181 cm framed
Ocean Mandala, 2001, hand-cut paper, 181 x 181 cm framed
These large size paper cut-outs are the culmination of several years of work in the medium on a smaller scale, for ceramics, artist’s books, posters, etc.
The works are framed according to archival standards, with ultra-violet screen glazing for protection. The wood frames are unique and of high quality with a profile that is 10 cm wide and 4,5 cm thick, from solid old-growth cherry wood, black matte lacquered.
Mandala nos. 10, 13, 11, 8, 4, 12, 16, 5, 3, hand-cut paper, 80 x 80 cm each (framed), 2002
Mandala nos. 1-4, hand-cut paper, 40 x 40 cm each (framed), 2001
The Mandalas were originally created as the basis for the Mandala Memory matching game, see Artist’s Projects
What seems flat is turned and twisted into space.
The works transition between two and three dimensions.
I fold a plane again and again, then cut it and open it up.
(from the artist’s statement)
Mandala in Sanskrit means circle. It is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. Even though it may be dominated by squares or triangles, a mandala has a concentric structure. Mandalas offer balancing visual elements, symbolizing unity and harmony. The meanings of individual mandalas is usually different and unique to each mandala. The goal of the mandala is to serve as a tool on our spiritual journey as it symbolizes cosmic and psychic order.
Zoe Keramea first applied the concept of the Mandala, the combination of the geometric shapes, circle and square, to Mandala Memory, a classic card matching game, that was developed as an app by DuKode for the iPhone and the iPad. The artist created each unique image, 108 symbols, out of hand-cut mulberry paper.
Various series of Mandalas were cut according to size, each one as a unique image: 40 x 40 cm (originally cut for the iPhone application), 80 x 80 cm (originally cut for the iPad expanded version), and a limited set of large size Mandalas: World Serpent, Fire, Ocean,
DRAWINGS
Zoe Keramea, Attracting Object, 2005, graphite on paper, 14.5 x 13.5 cm
Zoe Keramea, Wired I, 2011, graphite on paper, 100 cm x 16 cm
Zoe Keramea, Wired IV (detail), 2011, graphite on paper, 100 cm x 16 cm
SCULPTURES
Zoe Keramea, Shadow, 2011, hand-folded paper and thread
Zoe Keramea, Black Vein, 2011, hand-folded paper and thread, 17 cm x 17 cm x 17 cm
Zoe Keramea, Link, 2011, hand-folded paper and thread
A strip of paper or metal is folded into an hexahedron (triangular dipyramid or dual pyramid). The flat surface of the paper is knotted into itself to become a three dimensional solid. Using the dipyramid as a module, the artist builds new modular units. These are then sewn together and used to create large sculptural works.
Enfolded Paper, Sculptures and Cut-Outs,
Looking is easy; seeing is hard.
I would like to provoke the viewer to engage both eyes and brain
I like to tease the picture plane,
let the work play with the viewer’s perception,
often I invite the public to actually play with the work.
Sometimes the work becomes a game.
In all my work I deal with the manipulation of surfaces;
they are overlain,
folded,
enfolded into themselves
or even tied in knots.
I try to find what surfaces might lie beneath the ones we see;
to cut through,
superimpose and weave them together.
What seems flat is turned and twisted into space.
The works transition between two and three dimensions.
I fold a plane again and again, then cut it and open it up.
Flat strips of paper or metal are folded in upon themselves to form hexahedra which are then sewn together into increasingly complex forms.
Surface is turned and twisted into space.
(text: Zoe Keramea)
Enfolded Paper, Sculptures and Cut-Outs, a solo presentation by Zoe Keramea that took place in winter 2012, was the fifth show curated by Els Hanappe and Lazarus N. Siakos in a series of art interventions especially conceived for the Hilton Hotel Athens.
ZOETYPES
Zoe Keramea, Over and Under I, 1990, Intaglio-Zoetype,, 25.5 x 33 cm
Zoe Keramea, Circled Squares I, 1990, Intaglio-Zoetype, 101.6 x 17.8 cm
Zoe Keramea, Over and Under II, 1990, Intaglio-Zoetype, 25.5 x 33 cm
Zoetype is a printmaking process that involves the transfer of images from a worked metal plate on to the paper, via a woven cloth matrix, either directly or by re-transfer on to a second metal plate.
This process gives the print a much greater range of tonal and textural effect. The matrix can give a sharp relief with either its printed or unprinted side or the two maybe used in combination.
This technique was developed by Zoe Keramea in 1987.
Zoetypes are unique prints.
- Homo Faber Guide is an online platform developed by the Geneva based Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship. It is an excellent guide to craftsmanship in Europe. Zoe Keramea, on the recommendation of the Benaki Museum, has been included as a paper sculptor based in Athens, Greece.
- Carta Preziosa – Il Design del Gioiello di Carta edited by Bianca Cappello and published by SKIRA Publications, Milan. The book is conceived like a pop-up publication with 21 original paper jewellery designs by international artists and designers, one of which is Zoe Keramea who designed the necklace ‘Assymetric’.
- 18th Biennale of Sydney: all our relations: participation with a series of modular paper sculptures ‘Moths and creation of ‘Journey Lines’ as part of the public campaign in the city – June 27 to September 16, 2012.
For all works listed and information on other works by the artist, please contact els@siakos-hanappe.com
For extensive information on the artist and her oeuvre, please consult the artist’s website at www.zoekeramea.com
or read any of the below texts: