Anna Mavromatis works in her light-filled Houston studio.
Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Anna Mavromatis is an artist whose life has unfolded as a series of creative chapters. A resident of Houston for nearly 40 years, she has studied architecture and fashion (in Italy and England, respectively), designed clothing and worked as a celebrated graphic designer. All the while, she has fostered a love for embroidering and sewing. And for two decades, fine art has been her primary occupation, a shift she embraced after her children grew up and her mother passed away. “At that point, I decided to begin creating a body of work that could find a home outside of my own,” she recalls. Her hauntingly beautiful creations now belong to both public and private collections and institutions around the world, including Harvard University’s Fine Arts Library and the Book Art Museum in Poland.
Mavromatis’ practice is the culmination of her life’s dynamic stages. It also spans various mediums, including collage, cyanotype and sculpture in paper. However, printmaking—specifically monotype, which she learned locally at the Glassell School of Art—is perhaps the skill for which she is best known. To compose a monotype, the artist paints an image directly onto a surface before impressing it, yielding just one unique print. “It’s this indirect way of producing an image that first attracted me and continues to keep me a practitioner today,” she explains. “Monotype is the ideal medium for transforming my narrative and soul-searching into a visual statement.”
Utilizing these techniques, Mavromatis creates art as “an illustrated response to what concerns me, bothers me, excites me,” the artist continues. “It is my reaction to life.” A central, recurring theme in her work is women’s stories: those of her own, of her ancestors and of historic moments. She also explores the iconography of femininity and feminism. For example, a recent show, “Stay Still. Smile!” at Barbara Davis Gallery, portrayed the silhouettes of dresses. The pieces included both delicate garments fashioned from paper and ethereal monotypes made using inked impressions of handmade lace. “My heirloom lace has mostly come from my own family’s dowry collections,” she notes. “By incorporating these materials into my work, I feel I am giving them a new life with purpose.” Through these creations, the artist—who is also represented by Washington Printmakers Gallery—encouraged female viewers to rethink the notion of fragility and strength.
A year and a half ago, Mavromatis fulfilled the proverbial female artist’s quest for a room of her own when she discovered the apartment that serves as her current studio. “Regardless of the day I am having, the moment I enter that space, my entire being changes,” she says. “My posture, my expression, my mood.” It’s safe to say that within her light-filled studio, Mavromatis may be smiling—but she’s certainly not staying still.
