Untitled

Throughout his career, Lucas Samaras has used art to reflect on the trauma of his early childhood. His family home in Kastoria, Greece, was bombed during World War II and the Greek Civil War, and as a child he often made toys out of scraps found among rubble in the town. In this untitled work, Samaras arranged wool strings pierced by needles to create an overall ornamental effect; the pattern is reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics with representations of saints. At the same time, the bright colors of the wool thread treacherously invite the viewer to touch it and thus be hurt by the needles. This transformation of materials into something both beautiful and deceptive illustrates the artist’s ongoing connection to his origins and the experience of growing up amid war. This investigation of the self also becomes apparent in his Photo-Transformation, in which the artist altered his image and wrote his name over and over again on the dark background, as if to affirm his identity.