Maria Grigoriou
I studied at the Vakalo School with teachers P. Tetsis and G. Valavanidis (1971-74). Later at West Surrey University College (England), I discover other fields of art at a level I had never imagined and end up in textile tapestry (1974-77). There I meet Giannis Papadopoulos. I end with 1st Class Honors. Back in Greece, I teach painting and applied arts to children (1979-89), I do seminars and I teach adults at Campus-Ziridis (1993-96). Upon invitation I teach for one month at West Surrey University College (1980). In 1979 I met Ann, Corinna, Eva, Patrick, Donna and with Giannis, we founded the AFI team. At the same time, I work on the loom (1978-95) works for exhibitions and works for specific spaces after assignment. I am designing a series of objects for IKEA Sweden (1998). I deal with color in architectural spaces.. Since 1992 I travel to India every year, I visit workshops and study old techniques in fabric.
I have made eight personal exhibitions, two of them at the ORA gallery of Asadour Baharian and I have taken part in many group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, most importantly the “International Textilkunst” (Bien 1981), at the “Palais de Papes” (Avignon, France 1990) and in “Orpheus Looking Back” (Bracknel, England 1997).
Although I do not weave anymore, the relationship is not over. Tradition / evolution. Tradition means before-now-after. From idea to construction. I enjoy the journey like a journey. The more open you are, the farther you go.
