"I was born in Greece in 1958, in Samos, an island of the Aegean Sea. There I lived the first years of my life. I finished high school and then, in 1976 I arrived in Athens where I studied art graphics in the German school of Fine - Graphic Arts .I had the desire to express my concerns, the condensed images and thoughts I had inside me. There I met my partner, she was a painter. We did not take long to discover the identity of our views on how we see the big issue of art, its capabilities to communicate with the problems of society, and also that art must have an opinion on the present and future life, the environment of human existence and needs. Our collaboration began immediately and had multiple levels and an enviable quality.

I felt that we could attribute with what we both wanted. To express what we had in us and give it art, form and shape. Soon we realized that we did not favor either the space or the environment. We went to live in Samos. There, we wanted to try the land, the soil. We began to deal with clay, discovering its potentials and its magic. We understood that clay has life and that it must be respected. We tried to give it shape, form, expression. Gradually, the hobby becomes job. We deal almost exclusively with ceramics. We struggle; something starts to happen in the end. We employ the idea that the human body is an expression of the movement, the coexistence. In a few years, this collaboration with my partner stopped without any of us choosing it. I was alone in a workshop which had grown considerably. I had acquired enough experience, we tried many techniques. I started working on the technique raku, which was always leading and inspiring for me.

The first steps were very difficult. It was difficult to highlight the beauty, the possibilities and “life” which are the materials of nature, soil, water, fire, and glazing. It was like walking on a tightrope between success and failure. It was frustrated trying to discipline. It was ,and is, a ceremony between nature and me. In some time, I felt the surprise and the endless but fascinating journey of raku. Since then, I experiment, I “play”, I discover every day what real life is, earth, water, fire, trial, success, failure, surprise, discipline and respect. I use the technique of raku to make my sculptures, paintings and mixed constructions. During all these years, I have taken part in exhibitions in Greece and abroad. I teach ceramics when I’m asked to do so.

Timos Chatzilagos"