If Alexandra Athanassiades' sculpture evokes ancient Greek art, it also reveals a decidedly modernist sensibility. Eschewing marble or bronze, she seeks her materials in the detritus of beaches and boatyards. Beyond her evident fascination with the corrosive effects of nature and time on wood and metal, she wants her forms to awaken associations with survival and continuity.

With simple means and uncommon technical skill she creates powerful visual metaphors of suffering and transcendence. In today's increasingly commodified and cynical art world it is rare indeed to encounter a body of work as coherent and moving as that of Athanassiades.

Diane Kelder
March, 2001