Once upon a time I had a room

In the timeline ‘’Once upon a time I had a room’’ I document ten sources that influenced my art practice over the years. To begin with, I decided the structure of my timeline to be a map. After my father’s death I made a map based on the work of Thomas Hirschhorn. I documented the questions I started to have about the actions, reactions, and behaviors of the people around me and my own ones. So by memorizing this influence, I remember a second one. I used to attend art classes that changed my perspective of understanding painting. However, in these classes I get introduced to male dominant art education. With my third influence being my teacher Despina Sevasti, an artist and theorist who created a Greek feminist art class and discussed issues about greekness and the power dynamics in Greek art education. Both Traditional Japanese painting and Hannah Hoch were a major influence in my paintings and collages as I understand the importance of making a personal color palette and the creation of a project follows through the theme I have in my mind.
Also, by studying the Feminist Art Movement I learn how to empower that by using mediums which is associated to my identity. By analyzing my identity I return to my early childhood. Disney was a source that I expose myself to their world again as a way to self comfort, working my way through my experiences I used to hide as a kid. I put on purpose the Disney wallpaper under the map as my childhood was surface to experiment with my previous influences and the new ones as toys start to be visible on my artwork. Lastly, the final part of my map is my first personal space, my phone. Since I didn't own any room of my own besides the last months before leaving Greece I used my phone as the only way to have a personal space. I created a 3D room video wallpaper for my phone to portray my last influence, which is the book of Virginia Woolf “A Room of One’s Own”. The room I left behind in Greece now it's nothing more than an emotional thoughts with the life I used to have. I also placed some pictures of the map inside my phone as that is the only way to save them.

Video, 40 sec

Before starting the final map, I created a 3D room inspired by my previous rooms. Even though these rooms portrayed a different period of my life they have an identical structure, a white room with a big window at the opposite side of the door. The first one was always shared with someone else so my decoration was limited to one side of the room when the second one as it was my first attempt to own a space I filled completely with my influences. I decided to keep the 3D room empty because I removed anything assiotied with me from these rooms. From the moment I viewed them empty, I remember both of these rooms as notes describing how I used to live. I decorated the 3D room with some notes of mine.

Video, 30 sec

Originally I experimented with different shapes and forms similar to the forms I used to observe in traditional Japanese painting in order to find the shape of my map. Next I attempt to make my map identical to the 3D form. However, I didn’t choose to continue working with that form as its tiny size limits me from writing and painting above it.

Scenes of Famous Places Along the Tokaido Road Station 77: Tenryuagawa 1863 by Kunichika

Then I decided to cut a piece of fabric to an identical form from traditional Japanese painting and place my map on the floor.

1. Maps of Thomas Hirschhorn
2. Art classes
3. Despina Sevasti
4. Tradition Japanese Art
5. Hannah Hoch
6. Feminist Art Movement
7. Disney movie
8. Toys
9. Phone
10. Virginia Woolf “A Room of One’s Own”