Familiar Icons draws from religious imagery as a repertoire of appropriation to explore narratives around family and the dynamics of power within intimate spheres, both institutional and personal. I work with traditional iconographic profiles such as the Pantocrator, the Vera Icon, and the Theotokos to represent relatives, memories, and emotional landscapes rooted in my own experience.
One of the recurring motifs in my practice is precisely the Theotokos, the maternal figure embedded in Orthodox iconography that embodies countless myths throughout art history. Traditionally depicted as the bearer of life and mother of God, in my work she appears as a mutable presence, re-emerging across different projects in ever-changing forms. There are Theotokos in gold leaf, in neon colors, holding babies, dolls, or small monsters… Over time, this has evolved into a curious visual catalogue. By reinterpreting this motif again and again, I reflect on the tensions, idealizations, and contradictions that shape both motherhood and the representation of family. 

(The title plays on the double meaning of “familiar”: referring both to family bonds and to the recognizable roles understood as icons or models of behavior and relationships)