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Michele Haniotis

Having practiced as an architect, I’ve painted and drawn all my life but I have a special interest in the landscape and buildings of my ancestral home Kythera, Greece. The island was virtually abandoned in the 20th century  which belies rich and varied cultural history of the island going back to the early Bronze Age. I am fascinated by the stories buried beneath the earth and hidden in caves and ancient ruins, fragments emerging over time, and slowly disappearing with the ravages of time.
My recent work has explored the origin myth of Aphrodite, and the  threat to her mythological beauty through tourism and wind farms. The island was an important colony of Minoan Crete with two peak sanctuaries on the island revealing ritual and everyday artefacts. The island was under Venetian control in medieval times and there are many exquisite Byzantine frescoes hidden in chapels and caves.

I have used earth and stone from the hilltops on the island to evoke the Minoan peak sanctuary at Leska.

The fresco works are painted with natural pigments in wet plaster that has been textured to represent the beautiful but decaying effects of weather and mineral run-off on the surfaces.

 


I recently completed three years of the City Lit Fine Art Course with end of year exhibitions at the City Lit Gallery and Gerald Moore Gallery. I recently exhibited at the 2026 Big Art Fair in Hitchin and are preparing for the Collectiva group show at Follow your Art Gallery in Kythera in September. I’m excited to be part of the ArtEmisia collective, a group of like-minded artists working together on future projects.