The Greek in Us: My Grandmother and I

In 1973, with a freshly minted BFA in Printmaking, I left my New York Greek American community and headed cross-country to Los Angeles. In my last semester of college, I was recruited by Judy Chicago to be a founding member of the Feminist Studio Workshop (FSW) and the Woman’s Building (WB). This opened a Pandora's box, and I established new roots in Los Angeles, where I thrived. At the FSW, my multi-ethnic heritage expanded into my work as a photographer and graphics student.

My mentor, Sheila de Bretteville, founded the Women’s Graphics Center, where I self-published books and posters. In The Greek in Us: My Grandmother and I, I explored the similarities and differences in the identities of my maternal grandmother and myself. The book, printed in both Greek and English, was produced on an offset press and hand-bound.

My maternal grandparents, Yiayia Mary and Pappou Theodore Soulopulos, were Greek refugees from Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire). In the early 20th century, the Turkish government began the genocide of Armenian and Greek Christians. Forced to leave Turkey, Yiayia and Pappou married shortly after meeting and came to the United States in 1922 as religious refugees. Yiayia was 23 when she left her homeland, the same age I was when I left my Greek American community in New York.

The Greek in Us examines how gender, ethnicity, language, and social structure shaped our identities. As I prepared to leave New York, Yiayia asked how I could leave my familiar cultural community for such a faraway place. I reminded her that she did the same thing 50 years ago when she left Turkey. She responded, "Yes, I know the system is different now."

Both Here and There: Photographic Interviews with Bi-Cultural Women in Los Angeles, 1977

My next body of work, based on interviews with thirteen women of various ethnicities in Los Angeles in 1978, was published in 1979 as Both Here and There: Photographic Interviews with Bi-Cultural Women in Los Angeles. The project focused on immigrant women and their experiences balancing old and new cultural expectations.

As a photographer, I took on the roles of portraitist, demographer, and ethnographer to explore the lives of women caught between cultures. Each photograph and interview, printed as "bus cards" (28” x 12”), highlighted the experiences of bi-cultural women. These cards were displayed on 1000 Los Angeles Rapid Transit District buses for a year. The interviews appeared in both English and each woman's native language.

The project was funded by a CETA grant. The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), established in 1974, was designed to fund public art, mirroring the New Deal art programs of the 1930s.