Xamou displays a prodigious talent for painting. It is all so soft, tender and balanced. The canvases have a subtle underlying structure evident of an act which began quite loose, playful and sketchy followed by settling on one organising principle before developing the work to its full glory.
Some of her paintings are titled, others not. Others again fit into a series such as 'light scapes' which in turn became the title of a solo exhibition in Athens. At closer inspection a work like "Aquatic passage" has thin paint which has run upwards before drying. It is not suggesting that her art defies Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation as much as the artist having observed some happy accidents and decided to turn the canvas upside down at some point in the process.
Papadimitriou refers to her work as 'unfamiliar internal landscapes'. Of course, it is a deeply personal journey for the artist that we could not and should not mimic as viewers. But for our part, at least, the overlap between the artist's journey and our perception is an emotional connection in the literal sense that emotion equals energy in motion. With this connection, you never feel pickled in a jar and pushed about at whim, but you have a sense of the work pulling you along gently, but firmly.
When the art is regarded in a sequence, it is as if one is cocooned inside some thin aqueous membrane. A sensory space that allows light to penetrate in soft yet diffused rays, resulting in the outer space and the subconscious teaming up to generate abstract imagery.
It is a state of being that may spark off memories of sky and sea, or some fleeting moment as if seen through a frosted pane of glass. It is a welcoming shock-absorbing space offering you little sense of direction. Here you are simply adrift as if floating gently about by the aid of rising and ebbing tides in an estuary. You somehow feel more than satisfied capturing the interplay between light, darkness and subtle colours.
To find out more about the artist and her art, please visit her <a href="https://annamariapapdimitriou.com">website</a> or her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/annamaria.papadimitriou.9">facebook</a> page.