Sophia Vari
Haniotikos, 2023
Amaranth wood and 18kt yellow gold ring
4 x 3 cm
edition of 6 plus 1 AP
signed and numbered
The Syrtos is probably the most popular dance on the island of Crete. Often called Haniotikos because it was originally most associated with the district of Hania, the dance is performed with slight variations depending on the local tradition. The term ‘Syrtos’ is found throughout Greece as a designation for several different dances which are ‘pulled’ by a leader (Serno–Syro = To pull, drag along). Crete is also one of the few areas of present day Greece where traditional music and dance is still very much alive even among youngest generations.
In all Vari’s pieces, abstraction is refined to the hummed mantra of “Beauty and Harmony” where bold geometric forms are accentuated by colour coming from unconventional mediums. They are sculptures that become wearable with the force of a poetic statement. New materials such as amaranth wood and resin appeared in front of her by surprise. For this exhibition, Vari was looking for something distinctive and by chance, when looking at the different colours of wood, she discovered the beautiful exotic amaranth wood. What is special about this wood, is that it is green in colour and then in contact with the sun, it transforms and stabilises into pink/purple.