Inside Naked Summers: A Chat with Christina Mandilari
Step inside the world of Naked Summers as Athens-based artist Christina Mandilari discusses mythology, nostalgia, Mediterranean life, archaeology and her creative process.
Over the past few years, Naked Summers has developed a strong following through hand-painted ceramics, mosaics, silk pareos, paintings and wearable pieces inspired by mythology, memory, the sea and Mediterranean life. Through this project, Athens-based artist Christina Mandilari has created one of the most distinctive artistic voices to emerge from Greece in recent years.
Christina’s connection to creativity began long before Naked Summers itself- from studying Classical Archaeology in Ioannina to later living in Berlin and working in curation and art management, art remained part of her life throughout different chapters, eventually leading her back to creating her own work full time.
Today, Christina works from her studio in the heart of Exarcheia, where ceramics, paintings and textiles sit alongside recurring motifs that have become closely associated with Naked Summers, featuring shells, sea forms, mythological figures and fragments of landscapes that reflect both Greece and her own personal experiences. While the work moves across different mediums, there is a clear thread connecting everything she creates.
We spoke with Christina about the beginnings of Naked Summers, the influence of archaeology and mythology on her artistic language, the Greek landscapes that continue to inspire her, and how the project has grown over the years.
Tell us a little about your background and your first relationship with creativity. Was there a defining moment where you realised art would become such an important part of your life?
To be honest, I don’t even know exactly when it started. It feels like creativity was always there. Like most children, I started drawing naturally, but in my case, it became such an instinctive part of my everyday life that I didn’t even realise it was something special.
I think I truly understood what creativity meant to me during periods when I wasn’t creating as much. There were years when studies, responsibilities and life in general pulled me away from it, and that absence made me realise how necessary creation was for me as a person.
For most artists, creativity isn’t simply work. Of course, it may eventually become your profession, but before that, it’s communication. It’s a need to express something, to share something, to translate emotions and thoughts into a form that can exist outside of you.
Even while working in curation and management, I never stopped creating privately. I was constantly drawing, experimenting, testing new formats and materials. Eventually there came a moment where turning fully toward my own work happened naturally, and that was essentially the beginning of Naked Summers.
How did the name Naked Summers come about?
If someone still owns one of the very first T-shirts, they’ll remember they originally had the phrase “Ena Gymno Kalokairi,” (A Naked Summer) written across them. At the time, the project didn’t yet formally exist as a brand. I was actually still living in Berlin, creating pieces and sharing them mostly within a circle of friends. The phrase emerged very naturally during conversations, but for me it was always connected to the forms themselves. The figures in my work were almost always naked, so the phrase described the emotional world of the drawings.
When I eventually decided to give a name to the project, I realised all these stories, emotions and memories were my Naked Summers and that’s how the name remained.
Your work feels very connected to Greece and the Mediterranean. How would you describe the artistic identity of Naked Summers?
Emotion is always the starting point. And yes, my work is also very Greek- it’s inspired by nature, by love, by human relationships, by mythology, by observation itself. I think people who grow up around the Mediterranean have a very particular relationship with light, nature and emotion.
The shell has evolved into one of the central symbols of the project, as it appears repeatedly across different collections and mediums because it represents something very instinctive and natural to me.
I want to communicate a kind of purity that emerges from nature, from love, from moments lived by the sea. And because these emotions are so free and intense, I don’t think they can exist in only one artistic format. I never want to limit creativity to one material; experimentation is part of the process. Every collection involves extensive research, testing and exploration before it fully takes shape, and I really believe that unpredictability is one of the most beautiful parts of creating.
Mythology and ancient symbolism seem to play an important role in your work. How has your academic background in archaeology influenced your artistic language?
My studies influenced me enormously. Through archaeology, I came into very deep contact with mythological forms, symbolism and the emotional power these stories still carry. I’m not interested in simply reproducing mythological motifs, what interests me is reimagining them through movement, sensuality, playfulness and contemporary emotion.
There’s something deeply spiritual about mythology- these stories continue to survive because they express timeless emotions and archetypes. This idea became the foundation of the collection, Archetypes, which approaches ancient symbols through a more modern and emotional interpretation, the figures almost become reborn beneath Mediterranean light. The collection includes painted ceramics, mosaics, textiles, wearable pieces and larger artworks, all connected through the same visual language.
Nostalgia seems to appear often throughout your work. Do you think that feeling plays an important role in your creative process?
Definitely, I think my work is very connected to the feeling of something that existed once but no longer does. A moment you lived and wish you could experience again. There’s something about the sea especially. Even though we live close to it in Greece, we still long for it constantly. We miss summer throughout the entire year and for me, nostalgia is not sadness, it’s emotional memory.
My work often carries this feeling of a moment suspended in time- a memory, an encounter, a summer evening, a love story, something fleeting. When people connect with a piece, it’s usually because it reminds them of something personal they already carry within themselves and that’s the beautiful thing about art.
Travel and landscape also seem inseparable from your work. Are there places in Greece that continue to inspire you creatively?
Absolutely, places affect me enormously. One of my favourite destinations is Donoussa, an island I return to almost every year. There are certain places where you feel very connected to yourself, and for me Donoussa has always carried that feeling. I also feel very connected to Ioannina and the lake there, where I often walk for hours to clear my mind. I also love Serifos because of its wildness, the contrast between the red rocks and the intensely blue sea. I’m more inspired by dramatic, raw landscapes than perfectly peaceful ones, as they give me energy- the light, the sea, the heat and the wind all somehow become part of the work.
Your studio in Exarcheia feels very personal. Are there certain routines or habits that help you enter a creative mindset?
Yes, very much so. I like taking a moment to fully realise that I’m entering my space again. To synchronise with the environment, with the work and with the energy of the studio. I usually light palo santo or incense every morning, as it creates a beautiful beginning to the day.
Also being near the sea, as things become quieter for me there. I’ll sit alone with music in my headphones, look at the sea, breathe deeply and think about my goals or where I currently am emotionally.
Naked Summers has developed a very strong following over the years. What kind of relationship do you feel exists between your work and the people who connect with it?
I feel incredibly grateful and what makes me happiest is that people immediately understood Naked Summers as an artistic project rather than simply a product-based brand. I wanted the collections to communicate stories, emotions and a certain atmosphere in a very intentional way. There’s a great deal of thought behind how each collection is presented, both visually and emotionally, and I’m very happy people recognise that. The studio in Exarcheia has also become a place where I meet people from all over the world who first discovered Naked Summers online before visiting Athens. There’s something beautiful about seeing people connect with something you have created- it’s like placing a message in a bottle into the sea and eventually someone finds it.
Finally, what is your vision for the future of Naked Summers?
For me, the most important thing is protecting the essence of the project. Of course growth matters to me, but only if it remains connected to the artistic identity of Naked Summers. I want the project to continue evolving naturally while staying connected to my own artistic voice and intuition. I always want to keep exploring new formats, new materials and new ways of creating and what matters most to me is that people continue connecting with the feeling behind the work.
Images by Dimitris_Tairis © and Joseph_Alexiadis ©
