Athena Petra Tasiopoulos is a mixed media collage artist and fine art photographer. Originally from Pennsylvania, Athena studied photography at the Art Institute of Philadelphia where she graduated at the top of her class in 2008. She currently resides in central Vermont. Her work is collected internationally.
artist statement:
Athena describes herself as a collector of second hand images – primarily ‘cabinet card’ portrait photography from the late 19th - early 20th C. "My imagination is continuously lured by the mystery of found photographs – 'instant relatives' discarded and forgotten in antique stores. It is as if these souls exist in an interesting sort of limbo – simultaneously trapped yet saved within the photograph. I find myself feeling compassion for them. By re-inventing the portrait, I aim to disjoint my subjects from an antiquated identity, allowing them to transcend the constraints of time and place.”
Derived from found photography, the digital collage serves as the skeleton of Athena's artworks, fleshed out with illustrated hand-embellishments in graphite, acrylic, watercolor, and wax pastel. Limited edition of 25. (Pieces in the edition are unique and vary in color, size, and hand-painted detail.)
