The apple falls under the apple tree. But he needs a special gift, so as not to be limited to a pit, not to grow in the same soil, but to sprout in another place. Polina Sapuna Ellis is the most typical example of such a person I can think of. She was lucky to grow up next to two great personalities, her uncles Giannis Sakellarakis and Efi Sapunas. The ancient archaeologists, who carried out pioneering work in many regions of Greece, with emphasis on Crete and Kythira, invested their efforts to reveal the Minoan civilization to us. On the other hand, her parents loved painting and classical music. Born in Germany, Pauline showed an aptitude for art from an early age and took part in many of her uncle’s excavations during the summer as a child.

There, under the Greek lyopyr, she used her talent for drawing, capturing many of the finds. At the same time, thanks to her family circle, she interacted and studied with artists such as Pavlos Samios, who was one of her first teachers. He also studied archeology and art history. These frictions with painting, as well as a careful study of the past, gave her the tools to develop in another area that perfectly reflected her own personality: the design of modern jewelry inspired by antiquity. Seeing fragments coming out of the earth, having experienced forms and images, being carried away by mythology, she set herself the goal of rigor, simplicity, and beauty.

Minoan symbols

It is no coincidence that to this day, in her elegant collections, she captured the union of the two most powerful symbols of Minoan culture, the sacred horn of initiation and the bull – symbols of rebirth and strength. The myth of Theseus and Ariadne is another source of inspiration. Those who saw the decorations that he presented at the exhibition “Architectural Objects. Jewel. Excavations. Marble. Eclectic Intimacy and Theseus”, on Thursday, February 2, at the Fondazione/Salons Litteraires in Kifisia. This is the beautiful architecture of the Spyros Loverdos Foundation, associated with a family of bankers and intellectuals who were given the kiss of life by the lover of history and aesthetics, Giorgos Carabellas. Its aim from the very beginning was to revive in this unique environment the spirit of the literary salons of yesteryear, where art, writing, taste and music mutually nourished the conversation. There used to be evenings of fine arts, theater, photography, design. You can see Polina’s jewelry at the link: www.polinaellis.com