UNITED BUDDY BEARS SHOW - Warsaw 2008

* 1st August 1978 in Limassol, Cyprus

October 1997: Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, Institute of Fine and Applied Art
1997-1999: Studies at the studio Theofilaktopoulos
1999-2002: Studies at the studio Dimitrea and Konstantinidis
2002: University degree (Diploma) of Fine and Applied Arts at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

The history of the island documented by people in different ways was the starting-point for my plan to give the bear a purely Cypriot character. I painted the bear with motifs inspired by vessels and statues from important epochs of the island.
On the front, I painted a cross-shaped womanfs figure from the Copper Age that has exceptionally high artistic value. The grey-green colour makes this first evidence of sculpturing on Cyprus particularly valuable.
The same thought was behind my design of the back, showing vessels and amphorae in detail. The decorative element in the middle of the bear (dance scene) can be found on the HUBBARD amphora that belongs to the archaic epoch and is the first and most important of its kind. Many more ornamental motifs of similar origin – symbols and milestones of Cypriot art and history - can be seen in the overall painting.
The colours I use are the colours of Cyprus: light blue (the sea, the clear blue sky), yellow (the sun, light, cornfields), and earth-coloured (the Cypriot earth).
Christina Papakyriakou