REAL UNREAL

EFI LASKARI

// Meet Efi Laskari, a captivating artist residing in Athens, Greece. Her journey takes a fascinating turn, weaving together diverse talents. While completing her studies in Greek Philology she honed her skills as a content editor for many years, but a yearning for artistic expression took hold. Her conceptual series “Diptychs” combines her photography with AI-generated images to explore the complex dynamics of family relationships, focusing on themes of trauma, memory, identity, and intergenerational heritage.

Efi is currently pursuing her passion for visual arts at the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA), specializing in Painting. Her love for photography and video blossomed during her time at ASFA, leading to participation in numerous group exhibitions and recognition at prestigious international photography festivals.

Her captivating work has been exhibited in renowned galleries worldwide and featured in interviews in photography magazines and online platforms.

She has achieved significant recognition, including being a finalist in the “Explore Outside the Box” competition and exhibiting at the prestigious Galerie Joseph Le Palais in Paris.

Her artistic journey is an inspiring tale of exploration, dedication, and self-discovery. Through her diverse mediums and captivating themes, she invites viewers to embark on a visual odyssey through time, space, and the complexities of the human experience.

“Art is the surest way of exorcising our demons.”

Efi Laskari

What draws you to the arts?

I am a visual artist who expresses ideas mainly through photography, video, and drawing. Photography for me is wandering, alertness, and searching for magic in everyday things. The changes in the position of light redefine forms and reshape the content. The fragmentation of the existing world into a “personal parallelogram” of viewing reality is in itself a staging act. From this point on, deep engagement with one subject at a time, with the possibilities of the medium, the experimentation with the point of view, the pure approach to the people and life, good intentions, and good motives are defining quality. I am mainly illustrating the threat. Also, violence that can mean alteration of identity, disorder, embodiment of pain, dissolution, emptiness, and even death. I perceive nature as a refuge but also as a place of secret actions, of chthonic forces*. The organicity, the decay, the cracks, and the shadows invite me. I am also very interested in dark periods of world history – most of all those that led to collective traumas – and I believe that deep research allows us not to repeat past mistakes. This is my way of exploring things and events while, simultaneously, asking myself how this world could be a better place for all of us.

What do you like best about this project?

The juxtaposition between real and unreal. I was curious about this dialogue between these images and their connection, as well as the variety of associations perceived by the spectator.

In her series “Diptychs,” Efi combines her photographs with AI-generated images to explore the complex dynamics of family relationships. She believes that the artist’s vision and the underlying concept are crucial in shaping the final work.

The diptychs delve into the physical and emotional spaces of childhood, where various incidents can leave lasting impacts. Efi personifies the roles of perpetrator, victim, and observer within the family unit, highlighting the potential for both harm and healing. The series also raises questions about memory, identity, and intergenerational trauma, exploring the power of images to both haunt and comfort.

Photography and art can offer a poignant exploration of family dynamics and the enduring impact of childhood experiences. Through her innovative blend of her own photography and generated images, she invites viewers to reflect on their own memories and to consider the complex interplay of individual and collective histories. Photography, as a medium, has the power to capture moments in time and preserve memories. In “Diptychs,” Efi uses this power to delve into the past, to confront difficult emotions, and to find healing.

*Chthonic forces are deities and spirits associated with the underworld, the earth, and death in ancient Greek and Roman religions.

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