Janie Platakis

My practice revolves around the interpretation of women in Greek mythological stories and what these figures mean to me. Being a part of the Greek Diaspora in Australia these stories have a personal and cultural connection to my practice. Through the use of mixed media and primarily graphite pencils my work draws connections between the themes of these various myths and relates them to contemporary society and my own personal histories. More recently, I’ve communicated these ideas through the use of text and language, through an installation based practice. I liken this work to ‘poems’ that are fragmented, able to be pulled apart and read in different ways creating a plurality of meanings for the audience. The idea of fragmentation is essential to my work as the source material itself is fragmented, lost in time and translation. Furthermore, I incorporate themes of spirituality, feminism, and ecologies in order to express my own beliefs about the world we live in and how the constant re-representation of myth illuminates issues society was facing then and now.