Kostas Polychronopoulos
Sculptor

The artist was born on September 1969 within a family of 120 years' tradition in the metals' technique. Since he was really young, he came in close contact with artists, and, as a consequence, he was influenced by their way of thinking and the potential of personal expression through art. "The family with its expertise gave me the boost, the artists' studios the foothold of expression whereas Greece itself with its history and natural beauty the inspiration", as he declares.

At his first steps, he made sculptures using various materials and, later on, metal. His father's foundry was to him "the great school". There he learnt all the secrets of the metal technique; there he experimented with the very first sculptures and felt "the Call", as he often mentions.

His favourite materials are wax, clay and plaster. "When I work with wax, the buzzing of the bees and the smell of honey come to my nostrils making my soul feel free where a sense of tranquillity spreads all over me. Clay, on the other hand, with its malleable mass and softness, leads me to depict the imaginary icon in my mind to the present. The plaster, lastly, is the material that assists me on making my icons in mould giving them shape".

The sculptures are made by cast bronze but, he usually uses a specific technique with wax - known from Antiquity - according to which the desired image is curved on a mass of wax, covered with clay and then baked with fire in high temperature.

"I melt the bronze in the furnace - either on a ground surface or within the wax - and feel like Hephaestus, the ancient God of Fire! The colour of the flame fascinates me.. It is the moment that everything takes shape; the moment that whatever I have thought of and dreamt of acquires a breath of life and comes alive in front of me. Every single work of art is a secret desire, a dream or a journey at the depths of my soul.. Each creation is the release of an Idea sealed in me as it yearns for a way to come up and present itself.. Until the finalized touch is given, I almost hold my breath in anxiety and, as soon as my sculpture is finished and I hold it in my hands looking at it, my eyes are filled with tears of joy, whereas my soul listens to its completeness..".

The artist uses various techniques such as molten brass on stones and, even, on olive tree woods. Works of his art are exposed in various places of Greece. Lately, he has also started collaboration with countries abroad. "Through my art, I would like Greece with its natural beauty to travel all over the world. I am trying to share our history and long tradition in the metal's technique with each one who buys my creations. My purpose is for as many people as possible to see the Truth of the Idea straight in the eye and, thus, open a door into Light.." - Kostas Polychronopoulos