Maro Theodorou was invited to participate in the group exhibition, In Flux, which was born from Ainalaiyn Space’s one-month residency in Meteora Greece with artists Kate Daudy, Paloma Proudfoot and Rowena Hughes.

Maro Theodorou’s prints and installation are born directly from the landscapes of Meteora and her own memory. As a child, Theodorou would holiday and spend time by the sea and in the mountains with her family, constructing everything the family needed from the materials around them. It is this understanding and respect for the local landscape and materials that continues into Theodorou’s practice, as she celebrates the artistry of nature.

The prints were made before the wood was carved. Printed in a striking red and black, they record the organic forms of the tree before it was transformed by the artist. The ink highlights the tree’s rings and splinters which in turn record its growth and the passing of time. The gaps between each ring differs according to the conditions of the climate, drawing attention to the ever-fluctuating seasons and landscape. The prints splice the tree and offer the viewer a glimpse into its cross section, producing an effect similar to an Xray or MRI scan. These references demonstrate the connections between the botanical and the body, reminding the viewer of our own growth and transformation throughout the course of our lives. In this way, the artist’s organic abstraction illuminates the most profound realities of being.

After printing, the artist began the careful practice of carving the wood for the installation. The sculptures’ undulating and circular shape may remind the viewer of the cyclical rhythms of the seasons, time, and birth, decay and rebirth. The tree’s hollowed centre has been intentionally carved by Theodorou, but it recreates the tree’s natural growth pattern in which its centre empties as its trunk and bark continues to grow. Theodorou’s ability to make a feature of this process highlights her intensive knowledge of Meteora’s ecology. Perhaps paradoxically, the sculptures’ emptiness signifies the wealth of her memories, knowledge and experience working with these trees. Like a gateway or a portal, this almost architectural form connects the artist’s present to her past.

These carvings are deeply entangled with the passing of time. They are formed from a Platanus tree, a protected species that cannot be intentionally cut down. Instead, the artist had to carefully wait for a tree to fall, before asking for permission to remove the tree. After many months of searching, Theodorou located a fallen tree and began to carve it in a way that would emphasize and celebrate its natural forms. From its inception to its realisation, Theodorou’s practice involved careful consideration and intuition, celebrating flux as something grounding and punctuated by moments of stillness and patience.