XAOS is the latest exhibition featured at the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne and features the work of three young women: Christiana Livaditis, Nicole Polentas and Elli Ioannou.
I attended the exhibition over the weekend and had the pleasure of meeting Nicole and Kristina and hearing about their work.
Nicole Polentas is a Melbourne goldsmith whose collection of neckpieces, brooches and rings is very exciting to see. The level of detail is staggering and utterly impressive. Made from silver, gold, plastic, fabric, copper and coral, her collection was created as a response to the changes in the Cretan landscape over time.
Little photos are trapped in acrylic and then mounted on the pieces like jewels, making them wearable memories. Inspired by language and place, Nicole’s work features text from various poems, songs and stories and the thin scrolling ribbons of text add another intriguing layer to her work, she says: “While the text can’t always be deciphered, the pieces are still imbued with the words.”
Nicole is currently completing her Masters in Fine Art and RMIT and has exhibited her work widely. Last year she showed her work in Amsterdam and a selection of her jewellery is currently on exhibition in Munich, Germany – there’s also the possibility of another show in New York in the future.
Christiana Livaditis is a recent RMIT Fashion Design graduate with a lot going on. She has already shown her creations at Athens Fashion Week, Melbourne Spring Fashion week, and most recently at L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Week as part of the Metamorphosis Student Showcase.
Her collection, A Language of Romance, is inspired by iconic romances throughout history – think Marie Antoinette and Coco Chanel.
The collection is an exploration of the way romance influences a woman’s choice of dress and the result is a very unique and exciting collection. There are lots of beautiful lace and beading and the most brilliant draping and ruffles.
Christiana says, “I want my designs to have a story and to be something that women want to keep forever.”
She has been working on her collection for over two years and the level of detail is remarkable – it certainly is a labour of love.
Apart from designing her collection, Christiana also works as a freelance stylist. But she probably won’t have too much time for that because her designing career is really taking off. She’s super busy: several local boutiques interested in her line, her outfits are featuring in a film clip by a leading Aussie songbird, her designs are being exhibited at Sportsgirl stores around Melbourne and she’s starting her next collection!
It’s hard work, but Christiana is happy. “I’m so grateful and happy that when I wake I don’t even feel like I’m going to work. I love what I do and I feel very passionate about it,” she says.
Chief Executive Officer of the Hellenic Museum, Vicki Yianoulatos, is and responsible for putting together the exhibit and agrees that it is exciting to see two young women with such passion and talent.
She is thrilled to be working with these young artists, saying, “This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the work of these talented young women. We are very fortunate to have such talented members of the community and we really need to get behind these girls and champion their work.”
XAOS is on at the Hellenic Museum until Tuesday 9 April.