Ladder Art Space in Kew was never meant to hold a crowd like this.
Visitors packed inside, shoulder-to-shoulder for the opening of artist Efrossini Chaniotis’ Odyssey, many straining for a clear view of the works. Collectors, diplomats, academics, artists and members of Melbourne’s Greek community spilled onto Denmark Street as the exhibition pushed beyond the limits of its own space.
Among those present were former Victorian minister Jenny Mikakos, Port Phillip Mayor Alex Makin, Creative Industries ministerial adviser Luke Stack, and Greek Consuls General to Melbourne and Adelaide, Dimitra Georgantzoglou and Dr Alexandra Theodoropoulou.
The turnout reflected Chaniotis’ growing profile, and the appeal of a body of work more than 25 years in the making, drawing together Homeric myth, diasporic memory and contemporary narrative.
Art, music, poetry and QR codes
Across the gallery, eight paintings are paired with eight sculptures, each work in dialogue with its counterpart. The painting of the sirens singing to Odysseus tied to the mast of his ship is matched with a sculpture of Penelope sitting at a table with friends, singing Mera Merose, a traditional wedding song in which the bride calls to her groom.
Efrossini has constructed the lyrics in wire, cascading in curves above the sculpted figures, shifting the tone of the installation by including a QR code that takes people to a recording by Greek vocalist Savina Yannatou.
“Viewed separately, the paintings and sculptures tell their own stories; together they generate a third narrative that moves beyond Homer into something more personal and contemporary,” Chaniotis tells The Greek Herald. “I wanted to bring a Greek Australian perspective into the contemporary art arena.”
Dr Theodoropoulou travelled from Adelaide to read from her recent work The Feather Bridle of Love, which revisits Homeric figures through intimacy and ambiguity, particularly Calypso and Odysseus.
“The theme of my poetry was a great match to this body of work and Denise Zapantis saw this and suggested this ‘marriage’. It makes sense,” she says.
Her reading, accompanied by English translation from Denise Zapantis, frames the evening as a form of translation between mediums.
Reflecting on her dual work in diplomacy and poetry, Dr Theodoropoulou says: “One saves me and the other kills me,” without specifying which was which.
Author Olympia Panagiotopoulos describes the exhibition as experiential rather than observational.
“I encountered Penelope picking wildflowers, Homer, and the Sirens,” she says. “I felt the sea spray while swimming with mermaids, reflecting on the symbolism of the ‘7 Keys’, which held a profound fascination for me. Truly a fantastical and unforgettable adventure.”
Her response places the exhibition in the realm of lived perception rather than linear narrative, where myth is not retold but reactivated.
The artist’s imagination
The work has been more than 25 years in development.
“It was after my return to Australia in 2000, after a long period living in Greece, that I became invested in exploring Homer’s Odyssey,” Chaniotis says. “I began painting mermaids moving between faces and melancholy sailors in boats with crescent-shaped sails. The imagery was thick with nostalgia and longing.”
What follows is less a retelling of Homer than a reorientation of it.
Cyclopes, sirens and shipwrecks appear across large-scale canvases in saturated blues and layered figuration, though the narrative focus gradually shifts towards Penelope.
“Early in the process, my thoughts turned to Penelope,” Chaniotis says. “I found myself drawn to the idea that Odysseus and Penelope could be the same person.”
From there, the mythology begins to fold in on itself and the artists initial intention to paint the scenes of Homer’s epic changed to also include wall sculptures of an alternative narrative focusing on Penelope.
“I imagined the Cyclops losing his sight just as Penelope’s third eye awakened,” she says. “When I turned to the Trojan Horse, I asked myself: what was Penelope doing then?”
In this reading, Penelope becomes a parallel presence rather than a waiting figure, active within the same mythic field as Odysseus.
The sea is also reworked.
“I changed the expression and character of the ship in each painting to reflect the scene,” she says. “And I gave the sea its own personality, making Poseidon and the mermaids the body of the water.”
The works draw on Greek pottery, Byzantine iconography and modern expressionism, moving between visual languages without settling into one. Figures appear stylised, sometimes mask-like, built through dense pattern and symbolism.
From gallery to private collections
The exhibition was opened by Dr John Martino, who committed in front of the large gathering that he would acquire one of Chaniotis’ works for his private collection.
Keynote speaker Fur Wale, founder of She Talks, and an art history graduate, described the work as layered and symbolic.
“Efrossini’s work is brimming with symbolic and ceremonial imagery. It’s layered with themes such as identity, ancestral links, creation and human inner evolution. The art moves like liquid thought,” she said.
She encouraged audiences to engage with the work rather than simply view it, describing it as “a visual conversation that requires reflection, feeling and connection.”
Chaniotis’ work is set to be included in a forthcoming exhibition at the Hellenic Museum.
It marks a notable trajectory for an artist who once drew portraits for tourists on Greek islands for a few bucks. Long-time patron Mary Tsaganas reflected on her early support of Efrossini when she was still an emerging artist, while her daughter Taksia acquired Calypso, continuing a generational thread of collecting.
After formal proceedings, a number of visitors lingered waiting for the room to empty to be present with the works, many declaring a revisit is needed to properly appreciate and engage with the many layers and details of this remarkable exhibition.
“It is the Odyssey, after all,” Chaniotis said.
For the artist, Odyssey is less a destination than a method, a way of thinking through image, memory and myth as interconnected systems. For visitors, it may require a second encounter: not because the work is inaccessible, but because it resists immediate consumption.
Like the myth it draws from, it unfolds in layers built from canvas, sculpture, sound and code.
The exhibition continues until 27 June at Ladder Art Space, 81 Denmark St, Kew, Melbourne (closed Sunday and Monday open 11.30am to 4.30pm). The artist will be at the gallery sporadically throughout the duration of the exhibition with a scheduled guided tour and artist talk covering different topics of the exhibition every Saturday at 1pm.
