Revelations of ancient truths and new experiences of life

Revelations of ancient truths and new experiences of life

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Ubud, Bali

It is not for every sculptor to create works that are
monumental, exalting and effect a powerful impact on the mind at
the same time. But a Greek-born Bali resident by the name of
Filippos does exactly that.

His sculptures bring back the greatness of ancient art, the
excellence of world famous sculptors and the mystique of Eastern
cultures. One may think of Greece with its representations of the
ideal beauty of gods, heroes and humans, of Egypt with its
figure art and extensive tomb decorations, of the venerated
Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarotti, the virtuosic sculptor
Gianlorenzo Bernini or of eastern mysticism.

It is Filippos' triumph to have integrated the splendor of
those classics in his own personal style, transforming the wisdom
of the ancients into works that are able to stir the senses in a
contemporary society. While this is true for most of the previous
part of his 10 year retrospective, the fourteen works on show at
the Gaya Gallery, Jl. Raya Sayan-Ubud, seem to be more weighted
towards eastern antiquity. This does not in any way detract from
the excellence of skill and depth of thought.

In The Journey of The Soul, one is struck by the way he
unfolds his vision that, while there is a beginning and an end to
everything, and the path in-between may be bumpy, it ultimately
leads to the center of life and death.

Positioning a winged male and female in the outward-going
rotation of what looks like a spiral shell may remind one of the
act of Creation, the beginning of life. The spiral itself varies
in the symbolic language of different cultures, one of which
represents the soul's after-death journey which leads toward the
central home of eternal being.

Filippos has traveled widely, and while searching for lost
civilizations and absorbing the wisdom of the ancients, he found
the way to his own soul, and the Light which he says is in every
person.

It became his overpowering inspiration for the sculptures in
this solo exhibition, which almost all take circular shapes with
spiraling lines carved similarly to a pyramid structure where the
sloping sides meet at a central point.

This is particularly evident in The Seed of the Spiral,
depicting a wooden ball, within which finely carved rotating
lines lead to its center consisting of a piece of crystal cut
like a diamond. The Loving Eye, a sculpture made of onyx in
circular form, has seven concentric layered circles rotating
around the center point, consisting of crystal and silver to
suggest the sun. In The Disc of Being, made of marble, onyx,
silver and gold, the human being is central to the macro and the
micro cosmos, while The Knower focuses on the act of meditation
to stir awareness.

To commemorate the Great Planetary Alignment of January 2001
Filippos has created The Alignment, a circular shaped sculpture
that lines up the planets, an event occurring only once every ten
thousand years.

Made of fossilized brownish gray coral and white marble, it
has a silver disk showing the seven planets of antiquity in their
circular orbits while a second row shows the angelic sphere. At
the center of the sculpture is the sun, containing the yin and
yang symbol of harmony, executed in silver and gold.

Filippos' remarkable sculptures also include the feature of
having multiple viewpoints. In Journey of the Soul, for instance,
the outer apex or 'omega' point of the giant shell is tipped with
a silver disk of the Tibetan mantra suggesting the law or dharma
by which all beings are compelled to evolve. The same quality is
found in Wheels of Power, which has the American Indian medicine
wheel on the front, but the yin yang symbol at the back.

His fascination with ancient civilizations stems from his
early youth. This may not be too surprising, as he comes from one
of the oldest cultures in the world. Born in Volos (1964), near
the ancient marble quarries in central Greece, he naturally felt
attracted to sculpting.

Studying history and archaeology spurred his interest in
ancient civilizations. Traveling the world, it was hardly
surprising that he singled out places like Mexico, where he came
under the influence of Olmec Aztec and Mayan art and undertook
shamanic journeys with the Huichol Indians of Southern Mexico,
Egypt, Mongolia, where he experienced Shamanism and techniques
used for healing arts, and Siberia, where he familiarized himself
with Buriat Art and Mysticism. He visited Vietnam and the awesome
temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. In Bali, the island of the
gods, he accomplished his godly creations.
The exhibit runs until January 19. Contact:
Filippos2001@yahoo.com, or 62 (361) 975386,
gayabali@gayafusin.com or 62 (361) 979 253.