Kyriaki Sidiropoulou

Textile dyer

©Ania Vouloudi

Artful silk shawls

Kyriaki uses batik and shibori dyeing techniques
Her career started in 1998
White is not a colour that exists in her palette

Kyriaki Sidiropoulou studied architectural design and attended painting and drawing classes as well as batik dyeing seminars. At Gallery Smend in Cologne she acquired valuable know-how by attending seminars but, in essence, she is self-taught in her craft. Her artistic career started in 1998, when Kyriaki had her own studio. While working in Frankfurt, she was deeply inspired by the city’s museums, galleries, and foreign shops. In 1994, upon returning to Greece, she kept vividly in her mind the images of wonderful fabrics created with the batik and shibori techniques. “They had haunted my imagination so much that I decided to craft my own,” says Kyriaki.

Interview

©Ania Vouloudi

©Ania Vouloudi

What do you love most about your craft?: I love that the need for absolute discipline coexists with the surprise of the unpredictable. These two opposites attract and challenge me. I am also delighted when those who acquire my creations become co-creators in wearing them.
What are your sources of inspiration?: The texture of a fabric, a rose on my window, a detail on a traditional costume, and Japanese art are some of the many things that inspire my work. The books of Woshiko Wanda, Carter Smith, and Ana Lisa Hedstrom were a source of knowledge and insight for me, too.
What is a memorable moment in your professional life?: I remember vividly the enthusiastic welcome I received at Benaki Museum in 2004, when I was still an unknown artist. Another landmark was my solo exhibition at Gikas Gallery in 2019.
Which specific techniques do you use in your craft?: I use the batik technique (painting with wax) and the shibori technique. I am also interested in the charge-discharge dyeing process of fabrics. Very early on in my career, due to a blessed error, I found a way to paint on silk without smearing a foreign substance.

Kyriaki Sidiropoulou is an expert artisan she began her career in 1997