Despina Zografos

Complex geometric patterns found in crochet and embroidery are part of my vivid memories from my childhood in Crete. These craft/female practices are common among members of my family and inform my work. “Strolleroptera” series is about the transformative experience of motherhood. This “made up” word composed by the English word “stroller” and the word “ptera” meaning “wings” in Greek, combines the two languages that I speak daily and is pursuant to “Lepidoptera”. To create these works, I took one photograph of a long shadow that I captured as I pushed my twins’ stroller. By mirroring the image, I transformed it into a butterfly shape. Paper cutting is a laborious and meditative process and is how I trans form the paper into a lace-like surface. Repetition of a single motif in a geometric, symmetric composition or radial design is also part of my experimentation. My work is constructed in layers that I keep apart allowing to the shadows created by the change of light to visually mingle with the two layers creating a labyrinthine image and revealing kaleidoscopic forms of interconnected microcosms. In Cyano+ series I combine a cyanotype of a family doily and a cut paper design from the “Strolleroptera” series implying connections between places and generations.

Despina Myriokefalitaki-Zografos is a visual artist working in a variety of mediums. She was born and raised in Crete and currently lives and works in New York. She holds a BFA in painting, Athens School of Fine Arts, a BA in French Language, Kapodistrian University, Athens, and an MSc in Art Therapy, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland. Despina’s artwork has received awards and she is currently a resident artist at the Art League of LI, NY and a mentee at New York Foundation of the Arts, Immigrant Artist Program.