With a direct family connection to the deep history of the Mediterranean region, Lemos has a longstanding interest in myths from the Classical Period of Ancient Greece and Rome. Rather than illustrating stories from the past, Lemos activates cultural veins she feels bonded to. The large metal sculpture Deer on Altar (2013) is a pivotal piece in Lemos’ artistic journey. It was first exhibited in I Am I Between Worlds and Between Shadows alongside a group of other fable-like sculptures featuring the metamorphosis between human and animal forms. To produce the dark coloured finish of the sculptures Lemos developed a technique of mixing steel filings with resin to create a smooth but subtly textured resembling volcanic rock or iron ore. Presented at a former High School for Girls in Istanbul in 2013, in parallel to the 13th Istanbul Biennial, the exhibition reflected on violence against women but also moments of escape and transformation.

The titular deer refers to the Greek myth of Iphigenia, the daughter of King Agamemnon, who the goddess Artemis demanded be sacrificed in exchange for a favorable wind to sail to the Trojan War. In most versions of the myth, Artemis – and not her own father – saves Iphigenia at the last moment by substituting a deer in her place on the altar. In Lemos’ imagining of the scene Iphigenia and the deer are conjoined and hybrid rather than one replacing the other. The anxious and doleful expression on the face of Iphigenia as she awaits her fate was based on the features of Lemos’ own mother.