KONSTANTINA PAPADIMITRIOU
A dry, but comprehensive and expressive speech is the speech that accompanies the Doric figure of Constantine; with quick but melodic and poetic words, even with song lyrics between the prose. And on the soundtrack, from Black Angels to Savvopoulos and Kadinelia are just a few of things playing in the background. Expression has no boundaries and no barriers, neither in music nor in ceramics.
by George Mantzouranidis
Since 2010 when she found herself in Athens, the idea for her own ceramics studio gradually hatched, breaking its shell just before the start of the pandemic. Even its name -Terra-Kota- contains this oviparous touch. Terracotta, the red clay, was transformed to incorporate two of her favorite references: the dilemma “who made who first, the egg or the chicken?” and Mork & Mindy, an American sitcom of the 70s starring Robin Williams. The show’s lesson for her is simple: even if someone tells you they are an alien and just arrived on Earth in an egg shaped spaceship, you believe them if you are in love with them.
From the children’s plasticine to the school of Interior Architecture, Decoration & Design of Objects and from there to the potter’s wheel of Terra-Kota, it does not take much effort to connect the dots of her path. Just like the route of home to work (or better, home to creation?) which is just two narrow streets in Pangrati away. Urban hiking, however, is not the activity of her preference.
Konstantina, given the opportunity, goes to the mountains. Or the sea. Whatever may seem like a challenge. Wandering in southern Pindos? Of course. Trying SUP for the first time in the heart of winter? Of course, and with a dip in the deep frozen waters. A child of excursions, she lives her love for nature – while sometimes also meeting some of her great loves.
A more typical example, Kaltsa. The sheepdog she once picked up from the mountain, saw it grow, become 40 kilos, eat all the sides of her table, and finally bid her farewell for the long journey. Note: this table is the only item she would keep, in a hypothetical scenario where she would only be allowed to take one thing with her if she moved.
Thanks to the potter’s wheel and her wanderings, almost all the shades that our humble iris can perceive have passed through her eyes. But her favorite color is black. It makes her feel comfortable, although because of this preference, her friends call her a “damned soul”. Some of them, like Karina Logothetis, have used her as a model for their photographic experiments – hence her comfort in the lens. But can a lens really capture in its full extent this deep, spontaneous spirit that travels, creates, loves and sings?
