Sophia Vari
Pentozani, 2022
White resin and yellow gold ring
3.5 x 7 cm
edition of 6 plus 2 AP
signed and numbered
Pentozani, or Pentozalis, is a gravity-bending traditional dance from the Greek island of Crete, where traditional ways of life still hold strong in many areas of the island. The dance’s name is steeped in symbolism. Officially, it comes from the combination of the words five (penti) and step (zalos, Cretan dialect for step), therefore the dance can be translated as “five steps.” Additionally, the word zali can also stand for “dizziness,” indicating a dance that would make dancers dizzy ; it also symbolises the fifth zeal (that is, the step), that stands for the fifth attempt of the Greeks to liberate themselves from the Ottoman Turks.
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. This new colour naturally redefines certain forms that the artist perceives differently with the other woods previously used.
The other new medium is resin that was also a fortuitous discovery. Vari noticed the beauty of its lightness and transparency; it has a marble like feel that reminds her of the Thassos marble that she uses in her sculptures. The forms are enhanced by gold acquiring preciousness and as a whole they become strong.
