Terpsichore Savvala

Terpsichore Savvala, a Greek artist based in Copenhagen, draws upon Ancient Greek traditions while engaging with the complexities of contemporary human experience. Informed by her background in archaeology, she reinterprets classical forms to articulate the universal emotions of the modern psyche. Central to her practice is the retelling of women’s stories and legends, shifting away from dominant narratives to foreground their strength and agency.

 

In her current body of work, she engages with traditions that celebrate the generative force of life and the notion that all that is beneficent is, at its origin, chthonic, emerging from beneath the earth. Drawing on prehistoric religious cosmologies that linked life and fertility with the underworld, she reimagines the protective symbol as both beautiful and subtly menacing, yet ultimately benevolent.

Her work draws inspiration from the Bronze Age Spring Fresco of Thira, an exceptional mural dated to the 16th century BCE, whose depiction of renewal resonates deeply with her thematic concerns. Equally formative are the celebratory compositions of Marc Chagall, whose symbolic language and unguarded joy continue to shape her approach to myth and image.

For aarticles, Savvala presents two clay wall pieces mounted on wood. One features concentric motifs rendered in layered pigments; the other, a monochrome variation of the same form. Together they extend her exploration of protection, fertility, and transformation as objects that appear unearthed themselves.

References

1. Marc Chagall, La Baie des Anges au Bouquet de Roses (Angel Bay with a Bouquet of Roses), 1967.

2. Bronze Age Spring Fresco of Thira, ca. 1600 BCE.

3. Detail of a wood-carved bema door, Thesprotia, Greece, early 19th century.

4. Embossed silver basin, Greece, first half of the 19th century.

Objects

This collection is currently in preparation