Classical myths centering female protagonists are the starting point for a series of nine collages by Kalliopim Lemos titled Exploration of the Feminine (2021). Lemos combined hand-made Japanese paper, Italian Permagenta paper, cuttings from fashion magazines, and her own drawn and painted images, to produce startling and sometimes comic tableaus set inside architectural settings. An ongoing focus for Lemos over several decades of work has been human rights and female oppression, challenging the viewer and encouraging reflection and discussion. Here, drawing on ancient archetypes, she wittily meditates on the multitude of sensations, challenges, and possibilities contained within the notion of ‘the feminine’.

Lemos' collaage Sphinx (2021) shows the figure adorned and surrounded by jewellery made of precious stones. Although in both the Greek and Egyptian traditions sphinxes were thought of as guardians, and statues of them often flank the entrances to temples, there are dramatically different properties associated with it. The Egyptian sphinx is typically depicted as a man and assocaited with benevolent strenth. In Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer a riddle, and kills and eats them when they fail to solve it.