Where Figures Drift

Yiannis Sakellis is a visual artist born in Cyprus. He completed his Fine Arts studies at the Academy of Fine Arts “Pietro Vannucci” in Perugia, Italy, and later earned a master’s degree in Art Theory and History at Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol, Cyprus. Employing a diverse range of media including thread, painting, drawing, installations, video, photography and printmaking, Sakellis consistently explores themes centered around the aesthetic re-evaluation of life. He has held solo exhibitions in Cyprus and his work has been featured in various collective exhibitions in countries such as Italy, France, England, the U.S.A, Mexico, Moldova, Ukraine, Spain and Germany, among others. Additionally, he has played an active role in organizing and curating art events and exhibitions in Cyprus, often emphasizing in community engagement and in the transformation of abandoned spaces. In 2015, Sakellis co-founded the Kimonos Art Center, where is based till today.

ARTIST STATEMENT: Where Figures Drift

In Where Figures Drift, the human form exists on the edge of disappearance. Each body, rendered through layered ink and transparency, hovers in a state of suspension—between becoming and fading, between the visible and the unseen.

The works trace moments of quiet transition, where presence gives way to absence and form dissolves into air. The surface remains open, weightless, inviting the gaze to linger as the figures shift and disperse, leaving only the echo of movement behind.

The installations Murmuration I and II extend this fragile choreography. Composed of silhouettes of birds in flight, they unfold as transient formations—many small bodies moving as one, gathering and releasing, creating figures that emerge only to dissolve again.

Included in the exhibition are selected works from Α Carcass/ Το Ψοφίμι, a series inspired by Baudelaire’s Une Charogne. Here, the exploration of mortality and beauty grounds the ephemeral atmosphere of the newer works, revealing a continuum between life and decay, memory and disappearance.