Symbiosis:      A close  prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may benefit each member.

When I began to incorporate lichen onto my surfaces as a weight and balance for composition, I was mostly interested in it's textures and patterns. Lichen has an ancient and weathered look: it makes me think of civilizations that revered the stone circle as a symbol of the connection between the harmony of nature and the cosmos. The patterns of the lichen appeared on man made Dolmens and portal tombs as well as naturally on stone.
I began to read more about lichen and it's symbiotic relationship to algae; how they create their own existence, yet are attached. I found parallels in my own life;  the distance that comes from independence, yet still remaining attached to my ancestors and culture.  An outcropping of land, a farmhouse, a church or a graveyard may take on greater significance when it contains some familial connection.  This became apparent when travelling through my ancestral Sicily and in my wife's native Ireland.  Whether drawing inspiration from the Cathedral mosaics in Monreale or through the neolithic stone of Drombeg, this work resonates with a desire to come full circle.  What began as physically travelling back to the land, has left an impression, influencing my work's narrative.  Whether figuratively or intellectually, I have this symbiotic relationship with my ancestors and culture and it informs my art.

Miranda : 
                          A wink and a smile and a kiss goodbye
              Goodye , so long , i hope that i will see you ...    Miranda - from  Slowdive
Takis's work is an accumulation of  layers , representing time as a sendimentary rock , housing memory layering upon memory ; some are recognizable , and some memories reside where we rarely access them , waiting to come to the surface . The name Miranda means ' worthy of recognition ' . Revelation  and meaning has a way of finding the way to the top of our waking dreams .     
                                                         Marjorie Kaye

90's dream pop shoegaze band Slowdive's  ' Miranda '  is the inspiration for this work.
The sound is delicate and moody. It is layered , abstracted and textured .
My art is texture and surface , transparent and opaque.
The music reinforces and directs my palette and tints. I get caught up in its dream and it takes me places, not unconsciously but parental. My use of lichen and its symbionic existence reinforces my symbiotic relationship with music .
I need it to paint .

            
CONDITIONS ALTERED :

This series, Conditions Altered, is my reaction to the dramatic changes seen and unseen in our natural world… tornadoes, destructive floods, blazing fires. Changing our world around us...we are losing our natural habitat. Our behavior is tormenting the earth. It’s hard to ignore. Most of my life, and more recently during the pandemic, I’ve found myself drawn to the woods. Taking the time to look closely at the beauty of nature... the lines, the textures, the designs of a bees nest, the sculptural shape of a thicket, the different colors and shapes of lichens found on rocks and trees; I use this to enhance my work. This is my way of representing it, bringing it to life again. After studying nature’s composition, rhythms and forms, I explore the interplay of man-made materials (paint, spray foam, silicone caulking, screws, nails) with natural materials (lichen, branches, bees nests, etc) to form a finished piece. B Intrigued by the thickets in my wanderings, I recreate these over my canvases to evoke a feeling of a hidden world, where other worldly lives lie beneath…doors for the imagination to explore.