In her second solo exhibition Dimitra Xenaki deals with the imprint of human presence in time and space. In her artworks, the spaces may be vacant at the moment of depiction or presently but they bring the marks of those who have occupied them in the past – more or less recently, by holding their aura. You do not see the persons who lived there, but you can feel their energy. In other paintings the human existence stands in front of the viewer, but he or she also clearly leaves a mark in the space. These paintings were created specifically for Dimitra’s Xenaki second solo show “Place and Presence, in the city of Thessaloniki. Technically speaking, these artworks are characterized by a realistic portraiture of light, which is miraculously depicted, even in the empty space, where it does not touch directly the surface of the objects. Many of the paintings delicately convey positive emotions, creating an atmosphere that looks familiar. The female portraiture of this thematic area has an intense, but hidden, theatrical character, as the artist has been involved in the field of performing arts, as both a drama teacher and a director. When she directs a theatrical play, she faces the theatre scene as if it were a large canvas and, as a visual artist, she organizes her compositions and themes from a director’s point of view. The technique “Portrait within a portrait”, that seeks its roots in “Play within a Play”, initiates a dialog about the identification of the viewer. He stares at the image of the portrait that is portrayed within the main portrait, at the same time that the model observes the viewer. He is a viewer and an object of observation at the same time, like an actor who plays in a play within a play.
Dimitra Xenaki wrote in her statement about this exhibition “I treat my models like actors, trying to find a genuine pathway of communication with them, as I let my soul touch their soul…The artistic improvisation, where the feeling of the moment is captured and formed in an expressive way, is crucial, and, it is the springboard of my artworks”. Poetically speaking, she adds, “I found the courage to look inside her(the model’s?) eyes… They looked like open windows with their curtains fully pulled on the side… They let you step inside and wander in the corridors and the living rooms of her soul… On the walls around there were clocks, everywhere… Clocks broken down, out of order, that remain there just to count the time, or just to remind her of the time…That unique moment. There were also furniture and objects that, once, someone loved so much. There were a lot of mirrors, too.. You could see your face reflected on their surface, but it seemed to be portrayed through the filter of another reality… A poetical reality that lies beyond the standard meaning of reality. And this poetical reality, finds its roots hidden in silence that has a very unique power: The ability to capture the truth… The real one… It shinned on the old, spoiled, wooden floor as I touched her wrinkles. It was a very genuine moment. I looked around… The space.. The walls… Our bodies… All were testimonies of a consistent, merciless ruin… You can see inside my soul, as if you look inside an open window…But you can perceive it through your memories, through your own soul… “Only a soul can read another soul” said Plato… And he was right. This is a great reveal that testifies your truth, but here, transformed through Art…”.