Panos Tsagaris' practice has always been informed by his interest in the spiritual and the mystical, the seen and the unseen, the conscious and the unconscious.

Panos Tsagaris is interested in the world beyond physical appearance. He skillfully fuses eastern and western theologies, as well as mystical and metaphysical elements with theories and diagrams from scientific books. As a modern alchemist he wants to ground these beliefs in science - especially quantum physics - in order to experience the divine consciously. (1)

With key philosophical first edition texts as his guideline, he explores through his work spiritual notions of transformation as those appear in different esoteric traditions and mythologies. Central in his practice is the self-transformative process and how it materializes in contemporary life, and in today's global socio-political matrix, on an individual as well as on a collective level.

Tsagaris' works attempt to illustrate the question of the political significance of the 5th dimension as the most ethical way to sustain life. This dimension represents a state of pure love, oneness, a radical alignment with life forces, a mothering beyond human lives. (2)

“Mirrors are often used to describe our perception of reality and can function as barriers between the conscious and unconscious”

He creates an installation with mirrors. The highly reflective composition is photographed using his iPhone, a contemporary mirror, meant to reinforce vanity and individualism. The photo is then printed out on a large black and white xerox print, symbolizing western fundamental dualistic structures. Then, more mirrors are added on top and the new installation is photographed again. The process is repeated continuously until the reflective qualities of the mirror are completely lost. Finally, he makes silkscreens of some of those photos onto canvas and applies layers of acrylics and ink by hand, before selected details are highlighted with gold leaf, a symbol of divinity in most spiritual traditions. (3)

Panos Tsagaris began his “Golden Newspaper” series in 2010 soon after the economic crisis erupted in Greece, focusing on the socio-political upheavals that were created in the country. Continuing his interest in political events, he has tackled incidents related among others to the Syrian refugee crisis in relation to Greece, police brutality against African Americans in the United States, and more recently to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

(1), (2), (3) Text by Eleni Riga on the occasion of the artist’s solo show The Seed at Kalfayan Galleries, 2022.