Vassiliki Theodorakidi-Mamona, acclaimed Greek artist, once again makes her mission, History as Art, a reality, introducing her new project of tracking Amazons’ individual paths.
While telling us different aspects of the Amazons’ story, these new works bring viewers beyond feminist boundaries and out of conventional notions, which take Amazons to be tough, vigorous, and far-removed from sentiments or affection.
Vassiliki’s recent endeavor is to bring Amazons out from a collective anonymity to individual recognition. She says that her sculpting “acts decisively, creating points, elements, and symbols, from which one can recognize and name each Amazonian personality … as an independent entity.”
Amazons entered history books as women who left their social roles and became warriors. “Through the art we can … find out what was the feeling that made each Amazonian figure … overcome the social establishment and leave their own mark in the course of history,” the artist said.
“By looking into the soul of Amazons, this story makes us witnesses of the journey of the female figure through all the roles that a woman is required to play, from the Amazons’ era till today—roles such as lover, mother, caring daughter, warrior, winner, … dynamic and independent, yet caring, emotional, and vulnerable—all embraced in the iconic female figure,” she continued.
Love-War-Death
According to Vassiliki, who is known as an artist by her first name, two concepts lead a human soul to transcend the human limits and write history: the “Ideal” and the triptych “Love-War-Death, which leads to immortality.”
Regarding her last exhibit, As Long as Achaeans Shall Exist, she explained that the “Ideal” is something that a human strongly loves, believes in, and wants to reach. For this ideal, one may go to war, risk one’s life, fight, and even die.
The act of surpassing oneself for an ideal and dying for it writes a story that remains for the future. It makes a person immortal, as people will remember the person and the story forever.
“Every heroic act is a result of a deep spiritual background and intense sentiments, because these are the only motives powerful enough to lead someone to surpass himself and his limits and write his own history. These elements, however, are not limited to race and gender. The fight for one’s ideals, the claim, and courage are characteristics of the human soul,” the artist explained.
With the Amazon project, Vassiliki aims at investigating the timelessness of human transcendence from a woman’s perspective, taking inspiration from the previous exhibition’s masterpiece, the shield of King Philip of Macedonia. The shield depicts the battle of Achilles with the queen of the Amazons, Penthesilea.
Vassiliki talked about the equal duel, in which the male warrior killed Queen Penthesilea: “After the battle, Achilles, removing the helmet of his brave rival, realizes that she was a woman. Despite his victory, he became overwhelmed by emotions of love and admiration for Penthesilea. Thus, the cold surface of a masculine defensive weapon, King Philip’s shield, depicts the shocking amalgam of love, war, death, and immortality.”
