Nike Savvas, Drawing Study for Amathous for Chloe, 2022. Courtesy: the artist and Arc One Gallery.

Widely celebrated for its dynamic transformations of colour, light, movement and opticality, Nike Savvas’ work transcends the material conventions of painting to embrace a broader zone of physical, perceptual and experiential immersion. Conceptually grounded, Savvas’ art practice is personally and politically charged.

In March of this year Savvas traveled to the ancient site of Amathous in Cyprus where the landscape – sun, sea, blue sky, and vivid yellow flowering Lapsana (gathered by her paternal grandparents) became visceral constants on her journey. Savvas’ research took her along the coast from Polis Chrysochous where she visited museums and archaeological sites documenting traces of the early first people of Cyprus. At Amathous earlier generations of indigenous Cypriots had maintained not only their culture but also the now extinct Eteocypriot language.

This historical record, pared with Savvas’ personal genealogy embodies “a history that spans time and place, the ancient to the recent past. It speaks to family, past and present, and future generations”. The ancient ruins of Amathous are testament to this living history and left Savvas overwhelmed with its “poignancy and significance“.

Opening Event: 18 October, 6 – 8pm.

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