Black Frames by Jannis Varelas

And if the soul is ever to know herself, must she not look at the soul?  - Plato, Alcibiades

This diptych was inspired by a line from Plato’s Alcibiades, which George Seferis quotes in his poem Argonauts (1935). The work explores the complex relationship between self-knowledge and identity within the context of social restrictions and impositions, and the emotional conflicts that can arise between a sense of self and one’s role in society. The work combines abstract and realistic elements to depict the emotional disruption and fission between the personal and the social, the idiosyncratic and the communal. 

Jannis Varelas lives and works in Athens, Vienna, and Los Angeles. He received an MFA from the Royal College of Art in London and a BA from the Athens School of Fine Arts. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website