ILIODORA MARGELLOS
Ruya Maps
The selected work for the Spirit Athens issue of Creative Cities is entitled Moirai. It is part of Iliodora Margellos’s visual research that explores the distorted possibilities of the unconscious visual world. The composition of Moirai resembles a magnified shape of an eye. The eye amulet is a traditional symbol of Greek culture amongst others and promises protection and continuity to its beholder. Embroidery, as a medium, enhances this experience as it unfolds in a circular manner much like a practice of patience, endurance and adoration of the past.
Moirai intends to familiarize the viewer with the ancient Greek myth of the Moirai (the Fates) who controlled the thread of life of mortals from birth to death. In the artwork, the illusion of controlling the thread of life is juxtaposed with the notion of tyche (chance), the agent acting against human control. Moirai, 2021 acts as a metaphor for a surviving culture where stories of Antiquity and traditional symbols and beliefs are activated and affect contemporary societal practices.
Moirai (2021)
photo credit: Nicolas Galanis