Dimitris Tampakis

Dimitris Tampakis is a multidisciplinary artist based in Athens with a background in design studies and a master's degree in fine arts. Alongside his independent practice, he collaborates as a visual artist in performances and festivals. Since 2018, he has been a co-founder of the art practice Un.Processed.Realities. His artistic practice starts from moments when control slips and something unexpected appears. Drawn to the space between instinct and the numbing effects of contemporary life, he focuses on bodily states in which exposure, tension, and risk are not problems to be fixed but necessary conditions of existence. Rather than avoiding instability, the process creates situations that hold vulnerability, attraction, and discomfort simultaneously.

Photo-etching and metal casting are central to his practice because these processes resist prediction. Being self-taught, he develops his methods through observation and repetition, allowing chemical reactions and material breakdown to shape the work. The process does not aim at full control of the outcome, allowing moments of surprise and unpredictability that are essential to how a piece comes into being.

This approach grows from living in a culture that prioritizes optimization and self-regulation, where accident, risk, and primal instinct are often pushed out of daily life. He understands instability as fundamental to existence rather than an obstacle to mastery.

Dimitris Tampakis is an Onassis AiR Fellow for 2026/27.