Dimitris Lapousis has graduated from the Department of Art Sciences of the University of Ioannina, where he studied on scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation, for excellent performance. Nowadays, he is an iconographer and an operatic singer. He has been working as an art teacher studying at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Ioannina, majoring in Painting and Photography. He has been distinguished in art competitions, while some of his paintings are part of private and public collections both in Greece and abroad.Dimitris Lapousis has graduated from the Department of Art Sciences of the University of Ioannina, where he studied on scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation, for excellent performance. Nowadays, he is an iconographer and an operatic singer. He has been working as an art teacher studying at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Ioannina, majoring in Painting and Photography. He has been distinguished in art competitions, while some of his paintings are part of private and public collections both in Greece and abroad.
Artist: Dimitris Lapousis
Based in Larissa, Greece
Instagram:
dlapousis
Culturally Arts Collective features:
"Broken Mirrors", June 10 - July 22 2022, Milostka Center for Exhibitions
What do you aim to say by the themes in your art?
For the last two years I have been exploring the transparency and the multiple layers in the photographic action, creating new worlds and hybrid entities. My two art pieces named "Mirror mirror on the wall", are made by 200 photographs combined digitally. As a result each photograph could be the Form of the human body based on Plato’s theory of Forms. Till now we believe that appearance plays a very important role in our daily lives. Social media, television, magazines and marketing are flooded with flawless bodies. Of course, in recent years there has been a more systemic effort to highlight natural beauty, but tactics that have dominated our consciences for many years have left indelible scars in our present thoughts.
Where does your inspiration come from?
The diptych has references to the ancient Greek myth of Νarcissus, who lost his life, drowned by insane love for his reflection. The title "mirror mirror on the wall" refers to the stepmother from the Snow white fairytale, who was looking for the confirmation of her mirror. Her own fears never allowed to see herself beautiful. The final breaking of the mirror reveals the breaking of bonds, doubts and negativity about our appearance and confirms the need to accept the natural, the diversity of the world around us.
Do you have experiences that impacted your art?
I grew up in a society that could hardly integrate diversity. My student years at university revealed a new perspective that I try to capture in my art as well. I usually draw or photograph when I have intense emotions and the process of creation works redemptively. Reaching the present I have left behind all these broken pieces of the past and I have kept the uniqueness of moments that evolved me as a person and artist.
Do you feel your art challenges existing barriers?
Art must highlight realty, whether it is beautiful or ugly. It must also reveal solutions to everyday problems and obstacles. Speaking about my own art, I do not know if it challenges the existing barriers, but it challenges the viewer to perceive the world around him in a new and different way.
What are your long-term artistic goals?
The period of confinement due to the pandemic, was a period of creativity and reorganization from me. Many ideas changed, many were revised, canceled. Now one of my goals is to communicate more through my art and to be able to inspire other artists to see the surroundings from a new perspective and to engage in experimental photography. And I'm sure that this osmosis can only bring positive results.
What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
The souls of those involved in art know very well what to do. But above all they should dare, not be afraid to express themselves and experiment with materials, with themes, with imagination. And when they get to the extremes, then be sure they are on the right track. Because real art is created when we break the mirrors that make us stuck in the present.
