Some years ago...a friend of mine (Dr. Anthi Chaida) had written a text with her thoughts about my work ( for my solo show "Liquid friends" )
"In our era of relentless progress and change, does Time ever freeze? You stop, look at your reflection in the mirror and what is it that you really see? A motionless image of yourself or a constant flow of energy, thoughts and soul searching?
It is this very flow that Nikos Gyftakis actually saw in his art. An everlasting flow of colours, expressions and emotions, which whirl in time and space, bringing out enchanting melodies.
The artist plunges in the human soul, his and his beloved ones’, ending up in a psychogram, where his own instinct and the different qualities of painting are the predominant elements.
Bringing to mind Munch’s “The Cry”, there is nothing reminding us of the conventional lines. In his art, Nikos Gyftakis attempts to express his inner self through round patterns and lines dancing to the rhythm of circular tunes.
Like the water digs up the earth creating different kinds of landscapes, the same way the colour digs up the psyche of the human being to help the uniqueness of each face emerge.
Faces that refer to theatrical masks...Distorted, enigmatic faces full of piled up feeling…Faces that literally melt and let the floodgates of their passions wide open…
Faces that stand still in front of the mirror and let you see them from a distance, but puzzle you when you attempt to look at them close up. Abstract figures, yet concrete… Optical illusions…yet relative truths. Appearances are deceptive, or maybe not?
Nikos Gyftakis is inviting us to travel with him on the vehicle of his "whirlwind”. Let us follow him and find out what is really hiding behind the reflection in the mirror. "
