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In this composition, “Eros” as the artist has named it, we have an opportunity to discover
how Sofialakis manages to render a composition of two human forms, a man and a woman, in
the timeless union, the timeless bond of romantic love, of Eros. The theme of Eros in sculpture
has been repeatedly the subject of many artistic endeavors by sculptors who seek to express
it, and in this instance we are dealing with a comprehensive treatment of the subject,
for Sofialakis plays with the position of his forms, with their postures, with the relationship
he exposes between them, and mainly through the visual dialogue of their hands.
Here we see the feminine form, with her hands resting in front, crossed before her, while
the man comes from the back and with his left hand grasps the woman’s left hand. In this
manner, we can see a fine exchange, a gentle interplay of movement and position in the
postures of the two forms, and in this way the sculptor delivers to us a horizontal line,
a soft, subtle horizontal line, which traces the crossing axis that yields to this piece
its multiple sense of movement.
The woman is here rendered with her fine, fluid features, her feminine characteristics
which speak to her entire form, while the man is rendered as a more solid, more centered
form in itself. The idea that dominates this composition is the relationship between the
two forms, and we can see the distinguishing manner in which the human face is differentiated
according to its form. The woman’s face is turned to the side, leaning into, even,
reaching out, to the man, emphasizing in this way the providence of amorous love, the destiny
that binds the female and the male form, that unites feminine and masculine nature. And
of course, the sculptor here has given us, through the posture of the forms, through
the manner in which their bodies relate to space, a glimpse into this enduring bond,
the enduring destiny between man and woman, male and female, in a superbly unique way.
The sculptor has enriched this piece further owing to the oxidized surface of the marble
which augments the chromatic delivery of the composition. The oxidization in the marble
bestows upon the composition tints and shades that delineate even more deeply the movement
between the two forms, and emphasize even deeper the focus on the human body.
This composition is arranged and delivered through a dialectic between sculpture and
space, for if we circle the piece, if we view the composition in the round, the entire work
evinces precisely the manner through which the dominance of curves, of flowing lines,
of the interplay between forms engage the masculine and the feminine in the amorous
song of love.