Elena Papanikolakis - Parting Words

Parting Words, Verge Gallery, Sydney/Eora, Installation View

Elena Papanikolakis, Absolute value and nine grainy syllables, 2018. Acrylic, pigment inkjet print on cotton rag, 72.45cm x 104.3cm

Elena Papanikolakis, ON A STAR-BURDENED NIGHT: A dreamless sleep takes hold on the floor of an empty shipping container, 2018.
Acrylic and pigment inkjet prints on cotton rag, 80.5cm x 116.5cm

Elena Papanikolakis, The longest kiss in history, 2018. Acrylic and pigment inkjet prints on cotton rag, 88.8cm x 118cm

Elena Papanikolakis, The principal note quietly gains, 2018. Acrylic pigment inkjet prints on cotton rag, 86.2cm x 118.4cm

Elena Papanikolakis, Fade Out (Left) and Fade In (Right), 2018. Acrylic and pigment inkjet prints on cotton rag, 48.87cm x 68.5cm (L), 47.76cm x 68.6cm (R)

Elena Papanikolakis, The cast of characters inch forward, 2018. Acrylic and pigment inkjet prints on cotton rag, 82.7cm x 110.36cm

Elena Papanikolakis,145, 2018. Acrylic and pigment inkjet prints on cotton rag, 39.8cm x 52.8cm

Parting Words
Verge Gallery, Sydney/Eora

Parting Words presents new large scale photomontages that comprise of images, text and painting.

The works in the exhibition explore the realm of departures, from the finality of death, to deviations from context, form and function. It considers departures in terms of distance or removal from people, places, ideas and culture; to aberrations, and diversions between message and meaning.

Drawing from a broad range of personal and found materials, the works in Parting Words explore the breadth and implications of archives whilst delving into remnants of personal and cultural history. There is no demarcation in the works between personal and found material, with boundaries between the two merged, blurred and overlapped.

In spite of this, works in the exhibition seek to dually engage with information and abstraction, that is- to engage with meaning whilst challenging modes of comprehension. This is considered through plays around photographic proof and the communicative function of language and engaging with how painting can operate in the space between figuration and abstraction.

Thought is given to exploring the modes and structures that scaffold information, such as book pages. Working with the book page format presented opportunities to give structure to and formalise abstracted information, and explore the relationship between, and expectations of images and text.