Meet Iosif Foskolos, Artist, Athens

In his “Parilio” series, created exclusively for the hotel, Iosif drew inspiration from its interior design as well as its name (Paros + Ilios = sun in Greek). This idea of sun fit very neatly with the research Iosif had been conducting over the years: the perception of the seven planets in the ancient world, their mystical symbolism. He homed in on the idea of numerology in relation to the so-called Planetary Magic Squares; symbolic numbers like 6 and 111 began to emerge, and he knew he must incorporate them into his work. The gold thread featured in pieces like Parhelion was also symbolic – of the warm, golden glow of the sun’s rays.

After lots of reading and thorough research, he’ll begin sketching out his ideas. Usually, this will be your typical analog paper-and-pencil sort of deal, but occasionally, he’ll toy with things further on the computer. He makes precise calculations in a vector program to achieve the accuracy he needs for execution. Pre-treatment comes next, where Iosif carefully marks his canvas, readying it for sewing. 

Finally, he takes needle to thread, and his pieces are born.