The Alchemy of Color: When Painting Becomes Flesh and Spirit. Interview with Konstantinos Kyrtis
Through the techniques of the Old Masters and the freedom of gesture, the artist explores the boundaries between reality and illusion, myth and contemporaneity
Tell us what you do and your beginnings.
I manipulate oil paint on linen canvas. I am trying to create illusions with pigments to be perceived as human skin, nature, atmosphere, and objects.
In the beginning, there were endless hours in the museums around the world, studying and analyzing in detail the old masters. I was fascinated and still I am with the techniques and the skill level of them. I was observing every layer of paint from the masterpieces till the guard of the museum will let me know that they are closing.
What does your work aim to say?
Most of my work has a social and/or moral meaning. A meaning that concerns me and my experiences. My own reality. I work oddly. First is the composition that pleases me aesthetically, and during the process, the subject matter takes shape. I don’t aim to say anything in particular.
It is a satisfaction of my need to create and to communicate throw my introvert personality. I let the subconscious take over with an allegory or an abstraction. A rendered narration or even a single brushstroke can describe the state of mind of the painter.
Where do you find inspiration for your art?
Mythology, literature, philosophy, nature, a visit to a museum, to an archaeological site, and so on. Inspiration appears to me when I am not intentionally searching for it. It can be from an artwork, from a story that I read to a leaf from a tree.
I have always been interested in mythological stories that have an ageless message to say.
Could you give us some insight into your creative process?
I am constantly scrutinizing the techniques of the old masters, especially those of the Baroque era. Therefore, my process starts with the traditional methods of oil painting. Then I like to explore the freedom and the possibilities that painting is giving us.
The effortless abstract shapes of paint can be the most effective way to make something alive and real. In my work, I care a lot about making the most from my tools. I like to push oil paint to the limits and see what happens. I used to do it since I got my first time brush in my hand.
After many years of practicing and gaining more experience, I can guess the results of my process. This doesn’t happen always, though; sometimes the results will surprise me, and sometimes I will overdo it and start all over. I never let a painting leave my studio if it doesn’t look complete in my eyes. Complete for me is not to the finest detail, but to the way the paint describes something. It can be a single brushstroke but still be enough.
What are your future projects?
Paint and paint. It is a lifestyle for me. I am getting ready now for my solo exhibition in October at the Stand in Line Gallery in Nicosia, Cyprus
The subject of my new exhibition is the island of Circe. Not Circe herself, but what the island that she lives, represents. I take an alternative point of view of the myth and focus on a moral message.
I see Circe’s transformation of men to animals as a circular journey, a rebirth of our society and ourselves.
Interview by Fabio Pariante: X • Instagram • Website
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Konstantinos Kyrtis: Instagram