Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching, signed and with Certificate of Authenticity

The Distorted Shadows has been exhibited at the 8th art3f Luxembourg Art Fair and awarded with an Honorable Mention at the 19th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards.​

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Style – Technique – Creative Process
Eleni Gemeni’s Distorted Shadows is a seamless fusion of photography, digital manipulation, abstraction and surreal composition depicting a deeply poetic and existential exploration of struggle, transformation, and fluidity of the human existence. 
In this highly conceptual artwork, Gemeni blends photos of natural elements (figures formed by wood grain, flowing water, water ripples, and winter landscapes) with abstract figurative minimalism and distortion. 
What makes this piece exceptional, apart from being a deeply evocative work, is the genesis of its figures that were not created by traditional sketching, but extracted from photos of the natural grain of a wooden surface, rendered in inky, almost calligraphic strokes, and adorned with multiple exposed photos of flowing water, using various blending modes. The transformation from shapes on a mundane door into a source of existential silhouettes is a testament to Gemeni’s keen ability to perceive the unseen and scrupulously render them into sentient, expressive forms, suggesting a dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious, the randomness and the intentionality.

This intentionality is reinforced by the use of photos of stream rapids, the rippled waters of a lake, cloudy expansive skies, skeleton-like bare trees and winter landscapes, which are masterfully composed into the final piece.  The subdued, muted palette of soft, desaturated tones of gray, beige, and faded blues creates a background that is both atmospheric and nebulous, heightening the sense of uncertainty and amplifying its eerie, melancholic tone. 
This highly creative process - from recognizing the hidden and unseen, juxtaposing the mundane through abstraction, and culminating in a digitally enhanced dreamscape - demands both advanced technical skills and an acute sensitivity to material and metaphor. The process itself is one of meticulous observation and highly exploratory and unconventional way of manipulating the obvious.
Symbolism & Allegory
Figures appear stretched, elongated symbolizing the struggles, the fragility and the emotional weight people carry. The way the figures lean and appear unsteady mirrors how life’s challenges reshape and distort us over time. Almost fluid, their forms dissolve into their reflections on the water, in an effort to find their identity, accept their vulnerability, impermanence and seek resilience and catharsis. The hint of vulnerability, desolation and existential questioning is also highlighted by the bare minimalistic trees in the background. 
Water works as a dual metaphor: as a symbol of deep emotional struggle where the rippling distortions reflect the fragility of self-perception, self-doubt, and inner conflict, and as a symbol of purification. Its cathartic quality, suggests healing, renewal, and the passage of time—implying that struggles, though painful, eventually flow away.
The figures, despite their distortion, move forward, suggesting that identity is not something fixed but a continuous transformation. The distorted reflections hint at vulnerability, yet also at adaptation which is a profound acknowledgment that while we may struggle in an existential level, the very act of movement allows self-redefinition and evolution.
Signature Style & Artistic Value
This piece carries Gemeni’s signature style and artistic value:
1.    A masterful interplay of natural forms and abstraction, where the origins of the figures remain subtly embedded in their transformation.
2.    A dreamlike, melancholic atmosphere, achieved through the layering of multiple photos, photographic textures, digital manipulation, and an intuitive colour palette that borders between reminiscence and the ethereal.
3.    Themes of existentialism, identity, and psychological depth, which elevate the work beyond visual aesthetics into conceptual richness.
From a collector’s perspective, "Distorted Shadows" embodies a high artistic value for its intricate creative process and its ability to reward the viewer with a prolonged contemplation and a philosophical reflection on the delicate balance between existence and dissolution, identity and distortion, struggle and catharsis.
 

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