Anna Deligianni: the world is a strange place to live
It's impressive how a single story can inspire such diversity through different mediums! Visual artists from around the world are taking part in WHISTLE project, in an attempt to present a multi-sensory experience never attempted before in the Greek visual art scene. And that's because we do not think of visual art as an experience that when viewed fades away, but as an excuse, a triggering event, a reason to produce an artistic conversation and a literal dialogue with everyone interested. This is the way we feel visual art should work.
In this short article we present the work of Anna Deligianni, a talented visual artist from Greece.
Why did you decide to participate in WHISTLE project?
When I read about the open call, I saw something out of the ordinary. I saw people who love art calling for open synergy. To me it is a very intriguing project and I can't wait to see the final result.
What intrigued you in the story?
The idea of evil is something that intrigues human nature for hundreds of years. Others see it as something to be scared of, others as a catastrophe that will open up paths of creation!
How did you start working ideas in your mind?
I began by studying the story/theme. Picking up bits and pieces that grabbed my attention, then isolate characteristics I found important and start working on them. To me, it is important to keep the same atmosphere and feeling from the time I see a picture to the time I finish my design.
What was your workflow?
In this project, I decided to have a more realistic approach on the subject. Keeping the expressions and dynamics of the characters intact, I created an environment using repetitive motifs, chaotic lines drawn in pen and less color. In this way, there is a balance between the fantasy and paranoia taking place in this story.
Influences.
Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix, Erich Heckel
Styles.
German Expressionism
Technique.
Marker pens and ink on paper
What is the message you would like to convey through your works?
I would like to say that the world is a strange place to live. Everyday people can often find themselves tangled up in crazy situations. For that, we must often come in contact with our fears. A strange face, a dark place, a superstition, all get abolished once you come closer and get to know them better.
What would you like people to see in your work?
I would them to feel the atmosphere of a strange night. Where anything can happen. To see the expression of the figures and put themselves in their shoes, their agony. The anticipation of what's next!
Do you believe in superstitions?
I believe in the power they possess. If you truly believe in something, it is likely you will provoke its realization. Fear lays deep in human psyche and can easily bring to "reality" anything.
The idea of open collaboration in an artistic project.
This idea is the main reason I am part of WHISTLE project. The gathering of many people from different backgrounds, creating independently under the same prism of an idea is something that fascinates me. It also gives great hope for the future. Not all things revolve around commerciality. No need to always create for profit. The realization of this project is a living testament to that. Doing things because we like it. Doing things in order to create a living, breathing network of people who truly create, not commissioning.
Why should anyone come to the exhibition?
They should come in order to see pieces of art created by people who worked under no pressure or veto. To witness how beautiful things can happen with collaboration and love for the one's work.
All the works created for WHISTLE project by Anna, will be available to the public during the transmedia exhibition.
Anna Deligianni is a visual artist whose work mainly deals with the interaction between people and their environment. Born in Athens, and having studied Fine Arts at the Aristoteleian Univesity of Thessaloniki, she is greatly influenced by the aesthetics used in etchings and installations. Her recent work has developed into a style that combines multilinear patterns inspired by Eastern and Middle-Eastern architecture, with the feel of European philosophy, all the while preserving the values of Balkan aesthetics. Her work is mainly anthropocentric, placing people in an environment rich in detail and urban feel, that involves a game between geometry and perspective. These features are used in a way to create a chaotic combination of both suffocating and attraction. There is a playful balance between fiction and reality, regarding both the human figures, and their surroundings. Anna tends to use randomness as a way to increase the entropy of her chaotic works. She uses her errors as a way to provide new perspectives in her works, and keep the authenticity and uniqueness of each work intact. As Miles Davis said, “Don't fear mistakes – there are none”. She also likes to place secret features like names or familiar faces, lost in the busiest details of her pieces, as a game played with the people following her work.