SeaMonster Monk
Eleni Mylonas
SeaMonster Monk is the documentation of a performance presented at Live at Art Athina curated by Sozita Goudouna for the Athens Art fair in the Fall of 2019 at Zapeion Mansion in Athens, Greece. It is an audiovisual soliloquy on the deep grief that overtakes me when I encounter the continued destruction threatening life on the planet. I walk on the coast right where the land meets the sea. It is strewn with pieces of colorful plastic in all shapes and sizes. I look away. People are swimming nearby unconcerned. I see the invasive detritus as props, I grab my camera attempting to transform reality and quiet my heart. I collect certain objects and bring them back to the studio. I play with them, I place them on my body, I am immersed, engulfed, I become one with them.
I was born and raised in Greece, when the shores were clean, when the sea was brimming with fish and the water was translucent. Eager to see the world I came to NY to study Journalism and follow my calling. I see beauty in truth as hard as that may be. It hits me in the gut and makes life worth living. I want to multiply that vibe, drop another pebble in the water and watch the circles going out to reach new shores, change perspectives, form new visions.
I strive to create bridges between different realities. I embark upon each adventure stimulated by an event or an experience that fires up my curiosity and my emotions that I follow and explore. I meet the challenge via any medium at hand, be it photography, sculpture, painting, video, performance or a combination of the above. My art practice is a journey from the outside taken in, filtered, and redirected back out via the work. It is a process of self-discovery and a vehicle of communication. The resulting works are as revealing to me as they are to the viewer.
About the Artist
Eleni Mylonas is a multidisciplinary artist, her work moves across media and forms, including photography, sculpture, painting, geometric abstraction, video, and performance. She had solo exhibitions at the MoMA PS1; BENAKI Museum in Athens; Francoise Heitsch Gallery in Munich; Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center in Athens; Zoumboulakis Gallery in Athens; and Foundation for Hellenic Culture in New York. Her work has been shown at various Museums and galleries including, the Queens Museum in New York; Ellis Island Museum in New York, MOMus Museum in Thessaloniki; EMST Museum in Athens; Shiva Gallery in New York; Museum of Contemporary Art in Crete; Schorpf Gallery in Chicago; Konica Plaza in Tokyo; and the Alternative Museum in New York. Eleni’s work has been exhibited in several Biennales, including, the Thessaloniki Biennale, Destroy Athens, and Cannakale walk in Oskabruck, Germany. She has collaborated with internationally acclaimed curators including Joanna de Vos, Beral Madra, Christian Oxenius and Edward Leffingwell. Her work is currently represented by the Francoise Heitsch Gallery in Munich. Mylonas is a Fulbright scholar and holds a Masters degree from the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University. She maintains a studio in New York and Athens.