Dimitra Konstantinidi

We live in an era of multiple, interconnected and reinforcing crises, and our inner compass is constantly off-kilter. The only way to awaken from our collective sleep is to realise that we are part of a larger whole. The world is a sphere, another Noah’s ark, where humans, animals, and nature coexist equally, without exception. “Mother’s Hug” examines contemporary social crises through the Caryatids, the female pillars that support the Acropolis and serve as symbolic portraits of everyday people who are constantly lost in the chaos. The good news is that the displaced Caryatid has now returned, and the façade of the Erechtheion is once again restored. The cyclist, this orange-haired, blue-suited girl, arrives at the Acropolis, her metaphorical mother, greeting us with confidence, ‘There is no place like home!’ suggesting that change is not a trip forward but within. This degree project takes the form of a three-dimensional textile installation, creating an architectural body that invites viewers to inhabit it. Embroidery and painting function as parallel ‘aretē’ (Greek: αρετή), modes of excellence realised through each medium’s material capacities, while a childlike mode of storytelling remains authentic in a very serious world.