Exploring the work of 10 Olympian artists ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics
by Manu SharmaJul 24, 2024
•make your fridays matter with a well-read weekend
by UtkarshPublished on : Jul 22, 2020
On July 4, 1845, American author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau embarked on a journey of solitude and self-reliance, as he moved to an English-style 10 feet x 15 feet cottage on the shores of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Over the course of two years, two months and two days, the writer chronicled the life that he led there in voluntary exile in his memoir titled Walden. At times self-aggrandising and at others dismissive, the account is rife with facts that create an almost fictional account of the time that Thoreau spent in the wilderness. But despite its shortcomings, Walden is an ode to the transformative qualities of aloneness.
In an image from the series The Splitting of the Chrysalis & the Slow Unfolding of the Wings (2018), the artificial light from a flash illuminates a single, large boulder from its side, suspending it in a landscape that blurs from the long exposure. The result is one that displaces the boulder from its surroundings by adding a dimensionality to it that is further accentuated by the unidirectional source of light. Photographed against a twilit sky, the image obfuscates the geography and relates a sense of otherworldliness to the object of the boulder.
The Splitting of the Chrysalis observes Greek photographer Yorgos Yatromanolakis, as unforeseen circumstances force him into a period of isolation where he finds himself confronting memories from a traumatic past. Besides the obvious symbolism that the title carries, the Crete-born photographer explains in an interview with Cat Lachowskyj of Lensculture in 2018, how the work relates to a specific phase in the life cycle of a butterfly: “It focuses on that crucial moment when an insect inhales air through the first crack in their cocoon, swelling its body and crushing the chrysalis that surrounds it”. Such breakthroughs then reflect in the muted tones of the twilight, where his unconventional use of flash presents different ways of looking at the same.
This notion of metamorphosis, that the work embodies, traces back to the political disquiet of 2008 in Greece, when Yatromanolakis had just begun his photographic practice. The police killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in central Athens soon escalated into riots after large-scale protests and demonstrations spread across the country and subsequently the world. At the crux of the protests was the youth’s rising discontentment with the country’s dwindling economy, rising unemployment and corruption. Yatromanolakis, who photographed this pivotal moment in his country’s history in the work, Roadblock to Normality (2012), describes the transformative sense of change he felt, in the same Lensculture interview. “While I was swept up and taking part in those events, I quickly understood their historical significance and began taking photographs. I had the feeling that through the debris of the old system, a new world was emerging, and I wanted to make works about these periods in time”.
Soon after, Yatromanolakis was conscripted to complete his mandatory service in the Greek Army, where he produced the work Not Provided (2015). For him, the understanding of the political is always through the personal and forms the basis of his entire photographic practice. The Splitting of the Chrysalis, then brings to mind the words of author Olivia Lang from her book Lonely City, where she speaks about how loneliness is both personal, as well as political.
In The Splitting of the Chrysalis, Yatromanolakis returns home, to see the world anew, as he recreates the landscape from memories and light. Blue-breasted peacocks emerge in vivid clarity as the valley behind them breaks into dawn or is it slipping into nightfall? In another image, flash-frozen ferns curve poetically, as they are photographed against a dark sky bespeckled by motes of dust and moisture. The photographer’s gaze produces an oneiric quality of wonderment that lies captivated by the ethereal atmosphere. Human forms punctuate the series, abstracted beyond recognition, as apparitions or distant memories. The close portrait of a woman, with her features distorted by a flare of light, creates a sense of longing and distance, while in another image a pair of disembodied legs are seen sticking out from an undergrowth, adding mystery and intrigue to the entire narrative.
The Splitting of the Chrysalis encounters isolation, as a period of reformation that necessitates the construction of a new reality. The capacity of the cocoon to exist in chrysalis, between being and becoming, highlights the importance of seeing such time spent in solitude as a time for magical thinking. The breaking of the chrysalis in turn suggests those revelatory moments of lucidity that are born out of such a fluid process.
Read more from the series here:‘Days Untitled’ by Sadia Marium from Dhaka discusses memories of confinement
French photographer Vasantha Yogananthan on self-isolation and still life
by Mrinmayee Bhoot Sep 25, 2025
At one of the closing ~multilog(ue) sessions, panellists from diverse disciplines discussed modes of resistance to imposed spatial hierarchies.
by Mercedes Ezquiaga Sep 23, 2025
Curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, the Bienal in Brazil gathers 120 artists exploring migration, community and what it means to “be human”.
by Upasana Das Sep 19, 2025
Speaking with STIR, the Sri Lankan artist delves into her textile-based practice, currently on view at Experimenter Colaba in the exhibition A Moving Cloak in Terrain.
by Srishti Ojha Sep 18, 2025
In Tełe Ćerhenia Jekh Jag (Under the starry heavens a fire burns), the artist draws on her ancestry to depict the centrality of craft in Roma life and mythology.
make your fridays matter
SUBSCRIBEEnter your details to sign in
Don’t have an account?
Sign upOr you can sign in with
a single account for all
STIR platforms
All your bookmarks will be available across all your devices.
Stay STIRred
Already have an account?
Sign inOr you can sign up with
Tap on things that interests you.
Select the Conversation Category you would like to watch
Please enter your details and click submit.
Enter the 6-digit code sent at
Verification link sent to check your inbox or spam folder to complete sign up process
by Utkarsh | Published on : Jul 22, 2020
What do you think?