Artospective: Figurative Art by Konstantinos Skopelitis.

An Interview with Konstantinos Skopelitis.

Who and where are you from?

My name is Konstantinos Skopelitis, and I'm an artist from Greece. I consider myself as an urban contemporary mostly figurative (but not only) artist ....

Born in a small fish village, my dad used to take me with him when going fishing. I was feeling nautious, my older brother was making fun of me, my dad laughing. I guess I wasn’t a natural talent ready to conquer the seas. I love travelling. Drawing and painting while listening to my favourite indie music

How you got into this?

I remember myself holding a pencil and drawing since I was a child. Drawing whatever triggered my wild imagination. Years went by and my pencil became a brush, a charcoal, a pen. The paper turned to a canvas and painting became a self-discovery journey. I relied on colours to express my feelings, my thoughts, my experiences. My pencil was my closest ally, always there to speak for me when the words couldn't. Faces, scenes from photos, a song I love, a place I visited, an old dusty book, vintage items, through my pop-art interpretation.

What is your driving force?

My inspiration is hidden and found everywhere in life. My technique can cover mixed media from acrylic, ink, oil, collage among others. Every inspiration is a new journey. Every journey is a new challenge; a challenge I am always willing to take up." When I hear a story I’m trying to create an image, a face, a woman face at most of the times that suits with the story. Mixing reality and fantasy, with a comic aesthetic often, I create on my mind a figure and that’s it. Make your own story. That’s my moto. That’s how I see it.

What kind of work you do and why?

It’s mainly ink. Indian and sumi ink. Black and white. My favorite. Drawing with charcoal, acrylic paints, oil, mixing, exploring. Working on newspaper pages… Drawing on the ephemeral. Extending the expire date. Working on old book pages .Make the page my own canvas. A new story covers the old one, fulfilling or maybe changing the meaning. It depends on the viewer and his need to understand why. News and stories. Woman jumping out of book pages bringing their own stories abroad.

Why women?

Their faces mirroring their emotions almost effortlessly. I capture the moment I want to keep. Do I portray my own likes and beliefs on them? Maybe. A friend noticed that many have blue eyes. She asked me what does it mean. Is it my wife’s blue eyes? The contrast it creates with black? I have to think about it. I’m still discovering myself. When I see a photo or something that intrigues me, an image starts flashing in my head. It has a crush effect, it swallows me defines my moves as the face starts to take shape.

Please tell us more about your thought process.

I love escaping through my art. Life is a crossroad. Life and survival in the Greece of recession crossing over dreams and future steps. Do I call myself an artist? Let me answer this first. What is art? Art is an imaginary shelter for me where I can create from nothing. Every time a new artwork jumps out, it’s another step to my vision. A progress is made and the satisfaction that it’s better than the previous make me feel happy. I don’t know what I will be able to create in the future but maybe this is the most fascinating part of my art vision. There are no borders at all…

In my new series I’m exploring different techniques, bringing more colour, using rough, abstract brushes to create my layers of beauty.