Interview: Frosso Zagoreou (itsliquid.com)

Luca Curci talks with Frosso Zagoreou during CANVAS INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR, at THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space.

She was born in New York, and brought up in Paros, a Greek island. Graduate of Greek Theatre of Art “Karolos Koun” Drama School. Since 1997 she has worked as an actress on many theatrical stages in Greece. Therefore creates living statues performances and participates in international festivals. Since 2014 she has been a key collaborator of Astronauts theatre. The Video Art “La bella Greca or Whatever’s left” is her first video.

frossozagoreou_001 — Image courtesy of Frosso Zagoreou

Luca Curci – What is art for you?
Frosso Zagoreou – I feel so incapable of answering because for me art is the same as oxygen. The same as the sea. The same as the light that bathes us in the morning but also that faint light that leads us to dreams. The same as the imprint my beloved’s body leaves on me. But these things I cannot explain, I live them. So art is vital to me.

LC – What are you currently working on?
FZ – I am working on a new performance piece that is inspired by the work of the Greek surrealist poet Andreas Embirikos entitled Zemphira or the Secret of Pasiphae. It is about the love between a tamer and a lion.

frossozagoreou_003 — Image courtesy of Frosso Zagoreou

LC – Which art themes do you pursue? What is your preferred subject, if there is any?
FZ – Nature and what is contained in it, such as the concept of time, the nature of wild instincts, stillness, movement, etc.

LC – Are your artworks focused on a specific theme?
FZ – I am particularly fascinated and inspired by the period when man was concocting myths to explain the world. The period when man was inextricably linked to his body and Nature. Usually, the starting point for a piece of work is a mythical element or character and then I try to approach it through physical modes of expression such as butoh dance, physical theatre techniques, and characteristics of living statue art.

frossozagoreou_004 — Image courtesy of Frosso Zagoreou

LC – How is being an artist nowadays?
FZ – Although we seem to live in an exuberant environment, rich in stimuli, images, etc., I think we are actually sinking under tons of information without actually approaching knowledge. We are confronted with Time instead of living. We are chattering without talking even tangentially about the essentials. We spend a lot of thought, energy, and time explaining, defining, and supporting our work with arguments instead of letting ourselves follow the flow of inspiration and go wherever it takes us. I think this hurried and competitive environment we live in is extremely barren for an artist and it is surprisingly wonderful that there are artists who manage to express themselves and make our world beautiful, to give us the strength to endure.

frossozagoreou_005 — Image courtesy of Frosso Zagoreou

LC – What is the message linked to the artwork you have shown in this exhibition?
FZ – Something that is vital to me and inevitably affects the way I work is my desire to remember. To remember what is true for me. And when I say true, I mean in the literal sense of the word. You know, in ancient Greek, the word truth is made up of α- (a-, “not”) and λήθη (lḗthē, “forgetting”), so the truth is that which is not forgotten.

LC – In which way the artwork presented in our exhibition is connected with the festival’s theme?
FZ – In the video presented in the exhibition, the body is the means of measuring time. On the canvas, as on the body, memory is imprinted. Time is imprinted, it delves into the psyche of the woman, the heroine, and the islander and hopefully serve as a wake-up call.

frossozagoreou_006 — Image courtesy of Frosso Zagoreou

LC – What are your suggestions about our services? Is there something more we can provide to artists?
FZ – Although I’ve given this question a lot of thought, the truth is that I don’t have anything to suggest. But if in the future I come up with an idea, I promise to confess it to you!

LC – What is your idea about ITSLIQUID GROUP?
FZ – Although I was not able to come to the exhibition and see the works in person and experience its atmosphere, even from afar, it worked for me as a window to the beauty of the world and inspiration and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

LC – Did you enjoy cooperating with us?
FZ – Of course, I enjoyed cooperating and above all, I feel grateful to have our work exhibited in such a remarkable and creative environment in one of the most renowned, artistic, and beautiful cities in Europe!