This series is inspired by the mythical bird-like Siren creatures and focus on a specific motif: that of the Sirens’ wings. This element draws on multiple meanings in a mythological context. The bird is an ancient symbol of transcendence, the soul, a spirit of the dead with an ability to communicate with gods or enter into a higher state of consciousness, thought, knowledge and imagination. A cage of birds represents the mind, according to Plato. In the Odyssey, the Siren-bird represents the entrapment of the mind. A metaphorical transfixion where our ego is endlessly recycled.
“The overlay of wings and winged figures in this suite of works produces overwhelming visual stimuli that create the apparition of abstracted painterly brushstrokes and lines, a rhythmic process of layering color and form in a nearly hypnotic style of composition building. Thus, Vagioni’s visual cues allude to apparition and repetition as a means of extending the potential meaning of the Siren as a motif beyond their historic archetypal association. The wings interspersed throughout these paintings dominate the picture plane yet, in their repetition, become undulating motifs that form a symphony of composition in the manner of a musical notation.”
Audra Lambert- Art historian and independent curator
