Katabasis
In the ancient Hellenic tradition, Katabasis is the descent — the necessary journey into darkness before any return is possible. These paintings were made during that kind of descent.
The pandemic brought severe personal challenges that changed everything — the scale at which I could work, the pace at which I could think, the physical conditions of making art at all. Rather than turn away from that reality the work turned directly toward it. The body became the subject: hands, arms, legs, fragments of anatomy emerging from near-black grounds. Not performing suffering. Simply looking at it steadily.
What this series required was a quieter and more concentrated way to hold pain than anything I had made before. Dense dark surfaces. Isolated fragments. The sensation of a system under enormous pressure.
Nyx — the elemental Night of Greek mythology — presides over these works. But Katabasis implies return. The descent is not the end of the story. It is the necessary passage toward everything that followed.
In the ancient Hellenic tradition, Katabasis is the descent — the necessary journey into darkness before any return is possible. These paintings were made during that kind of descent.
The pandemic brought severe personal challenges that changed everything — the scale at which I could work, the pace at which I could think, the physical conditions of making art at all. Rather than turn away from that reality the work turned directly toward it. The body became the subject: hands, arms, legs, fragments of anatomy emerging from near-black grounds. Not performing suffering. Simply looking at it steadily.
What this series required was a quieter and more concentrated way to hold pain than anything I had made before. Dense dark surfaces. Isolated fragments. The sensation of a system under enormous pressure.
Nyx — the elemental Night of Greek mythology — presides over these works. But Katabasis implies return. The descent is not the end of the story. It is the necessary passage toward everything that followed.
Above: Blinded, Triada Samaras 2022, Acrylic on Canvas, 24 x 48 inches
Above: Disconnect 2, Triada Samaras, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 48 x 24 inches
