Mari Eliade is a painter and energy therapist Reiki Master Teacher, Prana, Meditation and Science of Happiness while, having studied psychological therapy through the visual arts, through her workshops she wishes to offer people a means of self-therapy, harmony and happiness.
"I think my painting has always worked that way. First unconscious and later conscious. Art is for me a way for emotions to find form and to move." She remembers one of her first exhibitions when she painted boats with mild color scales. "I had not yet named what was happening, but I could see that people stood before the works and calmed down. There I began to realize that creation can work at a more internal level. There's an inner voice inside me pointing me towards the offer. That's how I started the labs.".
The concept of energy, central to its work, is not defined in terms of theoretical. "Energy is not planned, but simultaneously planned. It exists beyond reason, but it is felt. Like light or sound, they have no matter, but they affect us deeply." She recalls an image that was a starting point for her work: "It was winter, in my garden. In the cloud I saw a pink rose bloom. This contrast was reflected in me. When I painted it, I tried to maintain this feeling, that even in a difficult environment, there might be something alive.".
In the table "Surviving - The Sufferings of Refugees" which won second place at the Art Awards 2026, the social dimension is intense.
"This work was born of an experience of mine in India. I was in Kerala when I saw a very young girl, mother refugee with two children, inside a full train station. This picture was left intact. When I was painting her, I didn't feel like representing anything. It was like being there again." But she manages not to let the burden of such experiences break her. "The social element touches me, but it does not pay me. I've learned to stand in my center and create from there. Otherwise, I couldn't go on." In this painting, combining coal and acrylics on nude canvas, contrast acts as a key axis. "The coal expresses the test, the weight. The color opens a space to something different. It is not opposition to tension alone, it is about transition." Color is never used randomly in her work. "It's a conscious choice. Each color has a quality, a quality. It's not just a cosmetic decision.".
The distinction at the Art Awards last March was an important moment, but it itself approaches it in moderation. "It was my first participation in a competition and my joy was substantial. I felt the project contacted." He remembers the moment of the announcement: "It was a quiet thrill. No tension, no purity. Like a confirmation that what I do reaches somewhere." For her, recognition is not an end in itself. "It is confirmation, but also responsibility. He invites you to continue consistently.".
Her double quality as a visualist and healer does not work segregatedly. "The therapeutic knowledge is not consciously integrated, it arises within the process. It's a single flow. I also see it in the workshops I organise and I see this process manifest to others. Color often brings things to the surface you don't expect. The same happens to me." When you ask her what keeps her in balance, the answer is immediate: "The gratitude. It is a point of stability within everyday life." The biggest change he has experienced, as he says, is the release from the external crisis. “Freedom from “what they will say”. From there begins another relationship with creation." Art for her is not a means of escape. "It does not remove us from reality. It gives us a way to look at it differently.".
In her recent solo exhibition "Color Gate", presented under the auspices of the Group for UNESCO Arts, Speech and Sciences Greece at the Knack Studio in Gazi, Mari Iliadi drew inspiration from nature and light and created works that function as energy and emotional vibration carriers, inviting the viewer to a place of calm and personal connection.
"Art is a route. It starts with something personal, but opens up to something more universal. It's an invitation to go through what you see." In the end, what she cares about is not the impression, but the effect. "I want the viewer to leave with a sense of power. To feel like he can start over. If there is even a small shift, then art has worked" ◆