Photographer Nikk

Model Karolina Bien @ Ace Models

Make up artist Sissi Petropoulou @ The Jaunties using Mac Cosmetics

Hair stylist Vagy Roka @ The Jaunties

A long farewell to all my greatness

The idea behind this project came long before my previous project Beautiful Is Just Another Degree of Terrible and gestated in my subconscious for many years until it materialised in 2016. It felt like the right to time to finally bring it to reality.

From the beginning this project was an exploration of my cultural roots. I am from Greece, and grew up there, but it was only after I left that I came to appreciate these roots. Now comes the time, after living in the United Kingdom for almost a decade, to acknowledge the fact that my roots have been blended with others and now I am becoming a hybrid between cultures that overlap and try to overrule one another. The title, a quotation from Henry VIII, by British national symbol William Shakespeare, shows that this mixture of cultures gives hope for something new while never forgetting the past. This was formed through a series of five neckpieces and three headpieces in black and gold shades, creating a very regal effect.

Materials used are a combination of handcrafted religious trims and industrially made rayon fringing. Different manufacturing processes all come together with handmade techniques. This project has been created with lots of recycled and leftover materials and only a few key materials were sourced from scratch. The main reason for this was that there was that I had absolutely no budget for this, only the need to create and evolve. This for me was also proof that artists can be resourceful with the smallest amount of materials, equipment and space as possible while still producing a very successful outcome. Everything was made by hand stitch after hand stitch, loop after loop, with lots of patience and lots of love and belief in the purpose.