In the studio with… Eleni Zervou
How long have you been at APT?
Since July 2022. I am only here for a year thanks to the APT and Fenton Arts Mentorship Award.
Describe APT in three words...
Calm, Traditional, Focused
What is your practice and how do you like to work in your studio?
My practice is storytelling and worldbuilding through different media; mainly staged installations but also sculpture, painting, comics and film. At the moment I am making work about family, grief and middle-classness. I am combining hybrid figurative sculptures and paintings with autobiographical film clips; intersecting utopian imaginings of bodily and gender transcendence with moments of domestic horror and mundane intimacy/absence. This will culminate in a large-scale multimedia installation, to be shown at ‘APT Introduces’ a duo exhibition with Millie Layton at APT Gallery this coming June.
In the studio, I like working slowly(although that’s a rare luxury), listening to music, drinking bitter coffee and eating sweet snacks.
Which artists have influenced you?
I tend to draw influences from film, television and theater, sometimes more than visual arts. David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ and more recently Donald Glover’s TV shows ‘Atlanta’ and ‘Swarm’ have made quite an impact on my attitude to storytelling -something about the way reality is distorted in a magical/ horrific way while maintaining its integrity, turning into powerful social commentary and expansive imaginaries. Currently, I am thinking a lot about Wangechi Mutu’s and David Altmejd’s approach to figurative sculpture and Dimitris Papaioannou’s performance scenography.
What is the most unusual thing someone might find in your studio?
3 pairs of glass eyes and a 120 year-old mini print of Omar Khayyam’s “Rubaiyat”
Scroll down for details of APT Introduces, the joint exhibition Eleni Zervou is part of with fellow awardee Millie Layton.
Exhibition
APT Introduces at APT Gallery
22 June - 2 July 2023
Thur - Sun 12-5pm
Private View:
Thur 22 June h 6-8pm
APT Gallery; 6 Creekside, Harold Wharf, Deptford, SE8 4SA
For more information on APT Introduces click here
More Information….
Contact
Eleni Zervou
APT Studios & Gallery
6 Creekside
Harold Wharf
Deptford
SE8 4SA
@zervou.helen