Exhibition Statement: So is Life (Έτσι Είναι η Ζωή) is an experiential multi-sensory installation that reflects on my mother’s life and the larger forces that shaped it—patriarchy, migration, and the passage of time. My mother, Magdalene, was born on the island of Skopelos in the western Aegean Sea and emigrated with her family to America after World War II. She dreamed of becoming a singer, a lawyer, and one day a member of Parliament, but her destiny was thwarted by the leaders of World War II, and the authority of her father, brothers and husband.

This work transforms inherited memory and loss into a space that invites reflection and presence. The installation weaves together song, sound, scent, video, painting, and sculpture to evoke both my mother’s story and my own deep connection to the land she was forced to leave behind. A recording of Magdalene singing a Greek folk song fills the space, while the air carries the fragrance of Skopelos—pine, wild herbs, and flowers native to the island. Cast bronze boots and sheep’s hair gathered from the land stand as quiet testaments to endurance, labor, and love.

At the heart of So is Life lies the passage of time—its persistence and its power to both erase and preserve. My mother’s plot of land, once vibrant with fruit trees, now lies still—the stone cottage crumbling, the earth no longer verdant but brown. Still each afternoon, a shepherd brings his sheep to graze the land that once flourished.

In this exhibition, I honor my mother, Magdalene, and all women raised in patriarchal societies whose voices have been silenced yet continue to echo—through the land, through memory, and through their stories.