Eirini Boukla
Eikonostasi
13th September - 25th October 2026
Eikonostasi joins the Greek eikon (image) with stasis (standing), a synthesis of words that can be understood as a pause in front of, or the act of standing before, an image. In Greek Orthodox tradition, an eikonostasi can take different forms: an icon screen concealing the altar, a corner shelf at home, or a small roadside shrine — an icon, a small oil lamp, a pause built into the everyday. The exhibition draws on this idea to consider what it means to stand in relation to an image, and how far painting can extend beyond the canvas and traditional materials while still holding that relationship.
The work in this exhibition draws on the triptych as a way of thinking about this structure and framing of a Greek Orthodox tradition within painting. Crochet grids drawn from vernacular textile traditions, in hues of blue, are layered over blue-painted acrylic sheets to form an abstract image, offering a kind of "concrete painting" through colour, thread and translucent surface. The blues draw from hues associated with textiles of the Theotokos in icon painting. Here, however, the abstract image offers simply a consideration and a position from which to stand and look.
Set within m² gallery four-sided cube, mirror film will line the inside of its four windows, catching and reflecting light as it passes through the acrylic sheets. Colour and image will shift with the viewer’s position and the time of day, creating a sequence of pauses within movement — the standing place returned to and left again.
Dr Eirini Boukla is an artist, researcher, and lecturer in Art and Design at the School of Design, University of Leeds. Her background is in Fine Art for Design, with a particular focus on drawing as an expanded practice. Her research interests include autobiographical narratives, material thinking, experimental sequential descriptions, collage culture, contemporary abstraction, and systems of reproduction. Her work and research have been presented internationally through exhibitions, festivals, conferences, and peer-reviewed publications.