Coexistence

The Concept: Fragments of Faith and Memory

The Coexistance series is an ongoing artistic research into the intersection of personal mourning, collective memory, and spiritual practice. Traditionally used as a tool for prayer and meditation, the prayer rope (comboskini) serves here as a primary morphological element.

My work explores the prayer rope not just as a religious artifact, but as a universal symbol of human connection to the divine and the departed. Through my residency in Sofia (ECHO II project), I expanded this research by engaging with diverse communities—including Christian, Muslim, and Roma groups. I discovered that while the external forms of devotion may vary, the essence of the practice remains a shared human experience.

Each “fragment” in this series represents a different identity, a different story of coexistence. By deconstructing the form of the prayer rope and reassembling it through various painting styles and scales, I aim to create a visual dialogue between the material and the spiritual, the ephemeral and the eternal.

Medium: Mixed media, anamorphic painting, and installation.
Structure: The series consists of large-scale anamorphic works and a modular installation of 72 smaller pieces.
Research Method: Fieldwork, interviews with minority communities, and study of intangible cultural heritage.
Themes: Mourning, ritual, coexistence, postmodern aesthetics.

Note: A significant part of this body of work was developed during the ECHO II Art Residency (Sofia, 2021), co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the EU, where Ennios represented Greece. (More Here)

Token (n.): a symbolic object or gesture offered to a person, expressing emotions, events, or intentions, without necessarily possessing significant financial or practical value. A token can be anything—even something lacking material substance—as long as it is perceived as such. This conceptual flexibility has allowed for its enduring and widespread use, spanning from ancient populations to contemporary teenage gamers.

The comboskine (prayer rope) is a modern token rooted in a very old idea, reflected in a primal and recognizable shape associated with concentration, prayer, and remembrance. Its deeply personal and symbolic character stems from the emotional weight the object carries, which is transformed into something almost monumental through a multiplicity of representations.

Visual artist Ennios-Eros Giogos, seeking to approach concepts such as spirituality and mourning, reflects upon his own “token” with the aim of breathing new life into it as an artistic entity through the deconstruction and reconstitution of its form. The resulting outcome is a series of numerous small-scale paintings that function complementarily, capturing different facets of the object’s form, perspective, and texture.

By further exploring the morphology of the prayer rope’s shape, the artist seeks to create conceptual connections between East and West, local traditions, and meditative practices. Thus, through a series of symbolic representations, the artist brings images of his own precious object into the public sphere, proposing artistic ways of viewing it and inviting the visitor to reflect on what their own personal token might be.

Elli Leventaki Art Historian