My name is Chrysanthe Maggidis and I am an active female artist. Born in Greece and raised in the United States of America, I have lived, studied, and worked in both countries, which has made me truly bicultural and bilingual. I have received a BA in Art, Archaeology, and Art History at Dickinson College (2012-2016), an MFA in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia (2017-2019), an MA in Greek and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (2020-2021), and currently I am a PhD candidate in Classical Sculpture at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. My current personal research revolves around contemporary figurative work that explores the relationship of mind and body, and how their interaction forges personal identity. My artwork is founded on the metaphorical amalgamation of figures and images that represent the psyche and the corporeality of the physical body rendered struggling towards self-determination. Aesthetically influenced by ancient Greek vase painting, whose philosophy is rooted in the ideals of perfection, I challenge the amelioration of this archetypal ideal of perfection; by rendering large-scale figures in varied states of emotion, postures, and interaction that allude to the internal and external struggle of trauma, suffering, denial, recovery, and rebirth, thus embracing imperfection, accepting imbalance, and reconciling with transience that all create identity. My materials convey symbolic meanings both visually and conceptually. The wood print patterns are tailored to each figure, intentionally masking the skin in order to raise questions of identity and individuality. Charcoal reflects motion, change, and transient transformation. The luminous areas of paper come through the charcoal like overtones of hope. Color, emphasized through pastels or fabric paper, symbolizes rebirth or regrowth from the struggling intertwined figures. Therefore, material, iconography, and symbolisms interact, enhance, and reinforce each other in a multifaceted work of art