(GR)
ΕΣΤΙΑ
23 Φεβρουαρίου 2009
Κρίστα Κωνσταντινίδη
Με αναφορές στην κλασσική γλυπτική
Παρακολουθώντας από καιρό την γλυπτική της Μαρίας Βλαντή, διαπιστώνουμε πως, σε έκτη πια ατομική έκθεση, προχωρεί όλο και βαθύτερα στη μελέτη φόρμας και υλικού, ενώ παράλληλα δημιουργεί «χώρο» μέσα στο χώρο. Προκαλεί ίχνη που οδηγούν σταδιακά στο «ξεφλούδισμα» της γλυπτικής επιφάνειας και, τελικά, στη διάσπαση της φόρμας.
Πριν επτά χρόνια, οι επιβλητικές κεραμικές φόρμες της Βλαντή μας γοήτευσαν με την αγέρωχη σιωπή τους. Απόλυτα σύγχρονες, ανακαλούσαν την αφαιρετική σχηματοποίηση προϊστορικών ξόανων και κυκλαδικών ειδωλίων, υπογραμμίζοντας τη στατικότητα παρά την ίδια σημασία τους.
Λίγο αργότερα «Όψεις» 2006 η Βλαντή επικεντρώνει την έρευνά της στην προσπάθεια να βρει λύσεις που αφορούν την υφή και το χρώμα του υλικού της κατά (stoneware ψημένο στους 1280 βαθμούς). Πυκνώνει τις χαράξεις της τμήματα. Όπως βλέπουμε στην πρόσφατη ενότητα «Συστοιχίες» οι χαράξεις στο κοίλο ή προεξέχον τμήμα τους διαιρεί τις φόρμες σε δύο ή περισσότερα μέρη, που λειτουργούν συμπληρωματικά. Εξετάζοντας τη σχέση πλήρους κενού, επιφάνειας, βάθους, το ζήτημα κατασκευής «χώρου» μέσα στο χώρο, καθώς και την αντίφαση που περιέχει ο όρος «κεραμική γλυπτική»
The Arrays of Maria Vlandi
Plastic art is the reverse process of sculpture, just as abstraction is the antipode of representation. Using these two pairs of opposites in her new series of sculptures, Maria Vlandi introduces us into her own discourse on form and space, on the character of the forms through their continuity, their interruption or their juxtaposition, on the dynamism of their size and density in horizontal or vertical direction, on the layering of their matter.
Seven years ago (Medusa, 2002), a deep vertical slash on the surface of the abstract terracotta forms she called ‘Morphotypes’ enabled the viewer’s gaze to penetrate the dark field and allowed the imagination to form the impression of a severe deity of the void. As she continued her study of terracotta volumes and tried to find solutions in terms of the texture and colour of the material, in the ‘Aspects’ series (Medusa, 2006) she multiplied the thin or thick slashes on its rough or smooth surface. It was as if she struggled with the bareness of the form itself and tried to ‘dress’ it, just as the Sumerian sculptors of five and a half thousand years earlier in southern Iraq used lacerated the soft clay to cover the bell-shaped or cylindrical deities they placed on worshiping altars in their sanctuaries.
To Maria Vlandi, carving became the tool for inscribing her poetry on the surface of the three-part ceramic form from the moment she decided to adopt another way to make the effect of those lines more fruitful. A deep incision which tears the form apart and leaves what could be identified as a void leads to an enigmatic animistic theology of Lucio Fontana type, which, however, cannot be justified at the present historical juncture. On the other hand, a single notch or several superficial scores on the surface of the clay would carry the risk of trapping the form in an external decorativeness and thus jeopardising the autonomy of the ceramic form in space and undermining its content. The carving is produced by the tool which is held by the hand over the surface. The combinations of carvings led to the first script in the history of human civilisation, which was ideographic at first and later evolved into cuneiform. Therefore the carvings should be treated as part of the visual content of the work. Having arrived at the conclusion that the carving should not end up fragmenting or decorating the surface, Maria Vlandi went on to a ‘subcutaneous’ study of the material. Thus she developed a ‘peeling’ of the surface which soon spread all over the surface and went deeper into the ceramic sculpture. As her study of the ‘peeled’ material advanced, the artist created a new series of original works governed by order and precision. As her vertical sculptures comprise three or even five sections stacked one on top of the other so as to fit perfectly and reach heights of up to two metres, the systematic vertical or horizontal carvings which are rhythmically repeated on the concave or convex surface generate associations of continuity and flow of the form from the part to the whole.
The latest work of Maria Vlandi is a gradual revelation and exploration of the overlapping concepts contained in a form of abstract art in an age dominated by a neo-pop electronic imagery. The solid shell –rough or smooth, in light or darker tones– alternates with the inner lines, and a dialogue is established between the surface and the line field which keeps the aesthetic of the whole intact, unaltered. The viewer who attempts to analyse the meaning of her forms comes to realise that the form itself remains ruthlessly exposed to the vague and the ambivalent – the main elements of the beauty of abstract art. As we stand before the abstract ceramic forms of Maria Vlandi, our perception of the three-dimensional representation of the world attempts to fill in the gaps until we arrive at something familiar and accessible. The pairs, placed perpendicularly in correspondence or in juxtaposition to each other, allow us to assume that they refer to the relation between male and female, surface and depth. In the lateral compositions the interconnection between the fragmented pieces underscores the relation between void and empty, surface and space. In both cases, size and density generate an inevitable sensation of dynamism, while their vertical or horizontal positioning helps us to understand their common intention to invade man’s familiar physical space and create a new space so that the abstract forms can survive and at the same time fill it with energy.
This is the intention behind the three-dimensional forms in the ceramic sculpture of Maria Vlandi. Although the term ‘ceramic sculpture’ sounds contradictory and paradoxical in technical terms –since in sculpture you remove a hard material and in plastic art you mould the soft clay– the artist blends in a unique way the two dissimilar techniques into a desirable, original version of methodical abstract art and provides the pleasure of ambivalent interpretation.
Yannis Kolokotronis ,
Asst Professor of Art History
University of Thrace ,
Dept of Architectural Engineering
