Gus Sermas

As a Greek American born near Sparta, classical Greek mythology has always fascinated me. Throughout my career I have relied on those iconic stories to engage the issues that face contemporary society and us as individuals. The story of Persephone, for example, deals broadly with themes of death and renewal, but it can also be seen as an environmental fable that illustrates the fragility of the natural order. 
These myths, which I learned from early childhood, inspire my art; but I don’t literally illustrate them. Instead, they have a general influence on the choices I make in color, shape and composition. And, although I don’t render the visual appearance of things, my work often evokes a dialogue between the man-made and organic natural form.
My mode of working is largely improvisational. I often start with a thematic idea and, with that in mind, establish a simple formal outline. But from there I make numerous additions with many major and minor adjustments. I reserve the right to change any aspect of the painting at any time. It’s important to me that, while I work toward refinement, I preserve the visual evidence of spontaneity.
Painting, for me, is the accumulation of small, but critical gestures that add up to an embodiment of my thoughts, values, prejudices and preferences: in short, it is the self made visible. Paintings are multi leveled artifacts, vessels of meaning that fuse form, subject and content.