Newspaper AXIANEWS
Interview to Zeta Tzioti

The exhibition will be entitled “Love Syllables”. Why have you chosen this title?
Love and Eros have inspired the works of the exhibition. Many times Eros remains secret, unrequited, or unexpressed words, just like syllables. Because we may lack the courage, be too selfish or misunderstand the situation. Human history is full of loves that have remained “Syllables”
The protagonists of the exhibition are expectancy and the presence or absence of people we love and as such memories...
The first word of the title is a loan from Cavafy’s poem “Shadows of love”, whereas the second one from Titos Patrikios’ poem “Syllables”. This is how the title “Love syllables” was created. The presence of these distinguished poets is “dominant” in the exhibition, as many of their verses have motivated the creation of several works. I feel really honoured that in the exhibition catalogue there is a poem by Titos Patrikios dedicated to me. I do feel grateful for his friendship!

Poetry has inspired you. What is in poetry that attracts your attention?
This is true, especially for the last years.
I feel that there is a parallel between painting and poetry. Sometimes they converge, flirt, influence one another and then they take their different ways, retaining their independence.
In poetry there is lyricism, subtle “ripples” and condensed meanings. Both poetry and painting offer multiple readings that can take you to various journeys.
You can of course say that this can be true to all kinds of art. Yes, but the relation here is stronger. The painter is confronted with a white canvas...just as the poet faces a white page. You see here we have another thing in common. The other arts require a group of artists. Theatre, Dance, Music. Artists in a group cooperate, co-exist. Every artist operates as a single unit, but is also part of something else. Some times they work together with the director and other actors, in other cases with the choreographers and other dancers, or with other musicians in an orchestra. But the painter and the poet! Of course the writer also and the composer...these lonely travellers. And as Simonides of Ceos said: Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech.

Who are the poets that have inspired you?
This collection of paintings is mainly inspired by Cavafy and Titos Patrikios. There are also some works of Yiannis Ritsos, Maria Laina, Giorgos Seferis and Tasos Livaditis. In the past Kostas Karyotakis, Michalis Gkanas and others had also motivated me.

Which are the verses that you have “married” with your works?
It is difficult to mention all the verses because there are more or less as many as the works. And I say about as many because more than one works have been inspired by the same verses...small variations.
I will tell you some though: “what took you so long love”, from Spring Symphony of Yiannis Ritsos. “I would get angry at the roads that betrayed my secrets” from “My friends the roads” by Titos Patrikios. Or “When the shadows arrive, the shadows of love” in the poem “Shadows of love” by Cavafy.

Has poetry inspired any other of your exhibitions?
The other two solo exhibitions inspired by poetry were “How time has gone by”, at Genesis Gallery, in March 2015 and the exhibition “Nostalgie”, at Melkart Gallery in Paris, in February 2017.

What other subjects interest you?
I have been interested in the subjects of time, the circle of life, transitions, and our need for retrospect. The painting collection where these matters emerge was “How time has gone by”.
Then the exhibition “Nostalgie” followed where we see the themes of nostalgia and again memories and reflections.
Now that I am thinking of that period I can understand better that I am preoccupied with the subject of time and retrospection, since in this show too these are its hidden concepts.
Each of these three selections of paintings is the part of a chain where every circle partially covers the one preceding and the one following.

Do your collectors choose your works that have been inspired by poetry?
It is true that people interested in Art are really moved by works inspired by poems. What has been transferred on the canvas is the dense meaning of a verse touching upon maters that concern the viewer. I would like though to repeat, because it really matters, that every artwork, whether it has been inspired by poetry or not, is an independent piece of art. Since a painting, just as a verse, has many readings. Of course my “reading” of the verse, as well as its depiction, is unique and personal.

Have you noticed if there has been a growth in art sales recently?
If we compare the recent turnover with what was happening in the previous years, we clearly see a slight increase.
A decisive factor that has increased the sales has been the combination of quality art and reasonable prices that reflect the economic situation of our times.

Would you like to end our interview with you favourite verse?
It is quite difficult to choose among so many favourite verses. But I can now think of some verses, again from Yannis Ritsos’ “Spring Symphony”. Just notice the images that can be created, the emotions....
You walk
Inside my dusty garrets
Wearing a flared spring dress
Fragrant of green leaves
Freshly washed sky
And seagulls’ wings
Over an early morning sea