The multidimensional psychological world of humans is externalized, colliding with the modern, one-dimensional way of life, and takes shape through imaginative compositions in Anna Gioti’s works. In an unceasing sequence of lines, the artist manages to capture thoughts, emotions, ideas, memories, fears, desires, dreams, and needs. A seemingly anarchic ensemble of designs on paper that, upon closer inspection, gains coherence, meaning, and wholeness.

The shapes and forms that emerge possess a character reminiscent of children’s drawings. In reality, they are not childish, but rather personify direct images from our environment and the daily life we experience, along with deeper images stored in the mind and allowed to ‘grow.’ The viewer can discern multiple levels – rarely does a single, specific idea develop. A conglomeration of images predominates, harmoniously and associatively interwoven, so that one literally sees a story unfolding before them. Like a web of thoughts – not sterile images – nothing develops in isolation; everything is connected to something else, everything leads to something else, or is the result of others – just as it occurs within the mind: nothing is pure.

Using the technique of black ink and markers on white paper, Gioti infuses her works with exceptional detail and precision. This element, combined with the imagination stemming from her creations, can elevate the viewer’s curiosity and interest. The image that emerges is the result of an ongoing connection and composition of lines that complement each other, develop upon one another, evolve alongside one another, and ultimately transform into something else – all of this occurring within parallel and intersecting dimensions.

Notably, the entire surface of the paper is covered, and the images appear to extend beyond or originate from its surface: as if the artist aims to focus attention on pivotal points, emotions, objects that emerge from the chaos of the mind; perhaps because they are familiar, perhaps because they have marked someone’s childhood and life’s journey, perhaps because they are connected to something deeper, or even with their own existence and purpose in life.

Essentially, what the viewer confronts could be unique moments from thoughts, dreams, desires, inscribed in the subconscious. Perhaps Gioti’s work constitutes a form of surrealism, a conclusion that could be drawn from the way images connect – chaotic and associative; from the difficulty in distinguishing what portrays reality and what is fantastical; from the ambiguity of space and the collaboration of the internal with the external. Ultimately, the viewer is called to discover what lies within the image, guided by the lines-thoughts, perhaps even what connects them, with what they identify, and maybe even ending up in their childhood dreams, which likely lead to an escape from everything that binds them to a daily life that has lost its imagination.

–Magda Bizaki
Art Historian
Thessaloniki 2018