DEMETRA THEOFANOUS                                                                                                                      Home    About   Sculpture   Press   Contact Artist Statement: Demetra’s sculpture is inspired by the beauty of nature. Her unique use of color is a poetic exploration of her ideas, as well as her aesthetic vision. She brings glass to life, using its’ fluidity and fragility, to express herself in ways she cannot easily articulate. The creation of each piece is a journey….often a cathartic process of bringing ideas buried in her subconscious to the forefront, in a more concrete fashion. More specifically, her work centers on metaphorical bridges between nature and human beings. Demetra explores balance and the complexity of human relationships, our internal psychology, and the importance of self-examination. She also looks at the traditions and structure inherent in our society and culture, and examines it from different perspectives, to find the conflict and tension inherent within this structure.  It is this tension, and the exploration of consequence and possibility, that are voiced in her work. In some of her pieces, she builds upon this emotional framework, and also seeks to uplift the viewer. She considers the tension between inner strength versus timing and circumstance, in starting over and changing our path. Depending on the individual’s emotional structure, the scale can tip to either maintaining the status quo, or at the other extreme, taking a drastically different path. She points to unrealized potential, and most importantly, belief in self over circumstance. Her eggs and flower buds are key elements that evoke this notion of rebirth, growth, and change, even at times when many feel their age or circumstance prohibits them from starting over.   PRESS RELEASE FROM "STORY OF NATURE", VETRI Solo Exhibition, 2011 Vetri Glass – Seattle is pleased to introduce San Francisco artist, Demetra Theofanous in her first solo exhibition with the gallery. Through the delicate, glass nests, flowers, branches and leaves presented in "Story of Nature," Theofanous depicts the cycle of life: growth, discovery, change and renewal. Inspired by the storytelling tradition of woven tapestry and quilt making, the artist sees herself as weaving with glass to connect the viewer with the story of the natural world. She brings glass to life, using its fluidity and fragility to express the beauty, vulnerability, peacefulness and decay found in nature's story. Theofanous has personally developed many of the techniques she uses to create her intricate, lampworked glass sculptures and she has pioneered an approach for casting and attaching pate de verre components to the pieces. The artist also creates much of the subtle color in her work herself through a process of blending and mixing new colors, much like a painter would on a palette. In fact, she views the flameworking process as being very similar to painting. Her unique use of color and careful, yet gestural sculptures are a poetic exploration of her ideas, as well as her aesthetic vision. Demetra Theofanous received her business degree from the Haas School of Business, at UC Berkeley. She first entered the medium of glass by creating lampworked beads as a hobby, before switching to lampworked glass sculpture. Demetra has received national recognition for her glass nest and flora sculptures. She has been an instructor at Bay Area Glass Institute in San Jose, as well as Public Glass in San Francisco and now operates a private flameworking studio in San Francisco, CA. She continues to develop her signature work, and experiment with the boundaries of glass, with her never-ending curiosity for this art form. ©2012 Demetra Theofanous all rights reserved