Despoina Isaia

Born in Athens, Greece, in 1974. Graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts in 1999. Participated in exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland, since 2013. Central to the oeuvre of Despoina Isaia stands the passage of time as perceived by the artist through physical and mental changes. Time seems to rule and structure our lives, further divided by the rational but disturbing underpinning that there is such a notion as wasted time as opposed to useful time. Isaia relies on her immediate surroundings, the self, the home, the family, to source materials and inspiration. Starting with the body, she assembles cut hair, nails, and shed skin, and she uses its measurements as a golden ratio for her artworks, which are created with painstaking methods and techniques. Time-consuming traditional crafts, associated with the woman at home, are applied to make installations that involve knitting, sewing, weaving, and more, seeking harmony and quality of life amidst the ever growing demand of efficiency and economic gain.