John Papas’ new exhibition entitled The Remembrance of Things Past, incorporates a series of works which are the result of his deep reflection on life. By drawing from both his personal artistic history and life journeys, Papas presents a vast collection of memories for a viewer to experience..
Papas draws on his Greek, artistic and religious heritage to inform the succinct statements of memory which comprise the works in the exhibition.
Bringing together diverse materials, processes and ideas, Papas’ memorial objects move from the particular to the general and from the personal to the universal.
The vast range of media include hand-made clay tiles, unique paintings redolent of painted Byzantine icons, naïve religious figures, found objects and ancient mathematical workings and drawings – together these materials impart associations with the passing of time, the making of civilizations and the many layers of history.
Papas’ adroit symbolism makes manifest the abstract and the concrete - the impression of death and the cycles of life symbolized by a butterfly in a state of metamorphosis. A clay image of a fossil reminds us of our deep past and the journey from past to present. It also serves as a metaphor for the layers of history, the presence and nature of vast oceans which span out in every direction of the globe. The neat outline of a shoe last subtley indicates man’s drive for identity, industry and progress.
Alongside these impressions is the inspiration for the series which in part derives from viewing the restoration of historic buildings. While the life form of the butterfly hints at vulnerability, the combination of building and restoration is steeped in solid foundations and constant reinvention to keep alive our rich history and preserve it for future generations.
Personal experience is always a function of time, and time reminds us that life is a journey with large and small destinations along the way. This body of work in a simple forthright way engenders a wish for the sentimental and the nostalgic, and an implication of the vastness and minutiae of personal experience, and the unique way time and our physical circumstances shape the memories which stay with us and articulate our lives. These works are also a homage to the fact that memory is made up of small incidental ephemera and large all encompassing events.
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