In the Garden of a Universe

Marion Paschalidou presents her new visual work titled "In the Garden of a Universe" at Gloria Gallery from 9 October, an exhibition that freely connects philosophical thought with science and seeks to form a personal mythology around the relationship between humankind and the universe.

The starting point of the exhibition is the "Garden" of Epicurus, the philosophical school founded in Athens in 306 BC, where everyone was welcome regardless of social status or gender. At the core of the community was friendship, while for Epicurus scientific knowledge was a prerequisite for a life free from fear and superstition.

If for Epicurus the springboard was atomic theory, for Marion Paschalidou it is string theory. The exhibition approaches the idea that the fundamental components of the universe are infinitesimal vibrating strings, and that matter is essentially condensed energy, which takes different forms depending on the way it vibrates.

Within this perspective, humans and the universe are presented as manifestations of a single cosmic energy. Thought, imagination and consciousness are not treated as isolated from the world, but as forms of energy that interact with the vibrational fields of the universe.

This idea is conveyed visually through the threads and strands that run across the surfaces of the works. Their unpredictable "dance" refers to the vibrating strings, while the charcoal functions as primordial matter and condensed energy, referring to cosmic dust and its transformations during the early stages of a star's formation.

The artist does not so much attempt to represent the image of the universe as recorded by telescopes, as to approach visually the inner force that governs it. The threads, which in her previous work were symbols of a contemporary mythology around human passage on earth, acquire here a broader dimension: they become a way of "conversing" with dimensions beyond the three-dimensional world.

Thus, the exhibition seeks to dissolve the sense of division between the unit and the whole. Starting from Epicurus and referring to string theory, Marion Paschalidou also reinterprets the notion of friendship and invites the viewer into a different relationship with the totality of the oikoumene.

Nicosia, Gloria Gallery (22762605). Opening: Friday 9 October, 7.30 PM. Duration: until 23 (Tuesday-Friday 10.30 AM - 12.30 PM and 6-7.30 PM, Saturday 10.30 AM - 12.30 PM)