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About the Artist — HelmetedArt / Michalis Kitsis
Michalis Kitsis (HelmetedArt) is a Greek Cypriot painter based in Sweden and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Working primarily with oil and acrylic, and gradually incorporating mixed media, his practice moves between psychological, theatrical, and mythological spaces.
Through the ongoing series Behind the Mirror, he explores emotional tension, vulnerability, and transformation through symbolic figures and suspended moments.
The recurring vintage diving helmet functions as a symbolic apparatus rather than a literal mask. By removing the face, the figure becomes both anonymous and universal, inviting viewers to project their own inner world into the work.
Drawing from mythology, psychology, and theatrical imagery, Kitsis creates symbolic scenes where posture, gesture, colour, atmosphere, and light reveal what the face can no longer express.
His works have been exhibited in galleries and art events in Sweden and are held in private collections internationally.
“For me, the mask is not a disguise. It is honesty made visible.”
Artist Statement
Behind the Mirror is an ongoing body of work exploring psychological distance and the hidden parts of ourselves that remain unspoken.
The helmeted figures carry their inner world with them, protected, yet isolated.
I am interested in the suspended moment before something happens, the quiet pause where emotion gathers.
Each painting becomes a stage where vulnerability and transformation quietly unfold.
Rather than depicting a specific individual, the recurring figure becomes a symbolic presence through which inner states can be explored.
By removing the face, I invite the viewer to enter the work more personally — to see themselves, someone they know, or a part of their own emotional landscape reflected in the figure.
The paintings are meant to open a quiet conversation between the work and the viewer, where meaning remains personal, fluid, and unresolved.