Vanessa Anastasopoulou

This installation presents a sculptural table conceived as both a map and a battlefield. It is constructed from primordial materials such as clay, ash, and seaweed. Behind it, a drawing mirrors and extends this mapping: a female figure appears as a metronome, measuring the passing of time, while primordial animals emerge as if arranged upon a chessboard. The work is envisioned as a microcosm of small, poetic constructions that function like game pieces. Each object serves as a talisman, recalling forms from the Cambrian period when otherworldly life first rose from the earth. These beings are unearthed and imbued with ritual power—to protect, to heal, or to ward off harm. They may be tactically repositioned depending on the ritual or strategy required. The space is inscribed with skeletons of associative creatures, with spells of the dying. Memento mori resounds—not as mourning, but as a festal reminder that life itself is a gift, fleeting and radiant. Life, death, and time are mapped here in shifting constellations. Ash glazes on the ceramic elements reinforce these themes, functioning both literally and metaphorically as residues of fire and transformation. The drawing’s metronome-woman anchors the installation in the rhythm of impermanence, a reminder of life’s brevity. And yet, from this acknowledgment of mortality, virtue unfolds—like a flower blooming in its own time.

AND ZERO AT THE BONE

Installation Table, as part of an installation of:

Table, Sand, Ceramic Objects, Drawing