Strolleroptera

Strolleroptera features over a dozen intricately cut paper works inspired by the artist’s childhood memories of growing up on the Greek island of Crete and watching the matriarchs in her family create complex geometric patterns through lace, crochet, and embroidery. She reinterprets these traditions through her own lens and through the transformative experience of motherhood. The word Strolleroptera reflects the two languages spoken daily in her life; it is her own creation, combining the English word “stroller” and the Greek word “ptera,” meaning “wings,” as in Lepidoptera—the order of insects that includes butterflies.

• On View: June 1–21, 2026
• Opening reception: Thursday, June 4 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm
• Meet the artist: Wednesday, June 10 from 5:00pm – 7:00 pm

Despina Stokou, Strolleroptera–Triptych Blue, 2019. Hand-cut paper, acrylic on paper, gold acrylic color and foam board, 32 × 42 inches (framed)

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For more information, please contact Eliz Alahverdian at alahverdian@adelphi.edu.

About the Artist

Despina Zografos was born in Crete, Greece, and is a visual artist living and working in Garden City, New York. Her practice spans hand-cut paper, painting, cyanotype, photography, video, and printmaking. She holds an MA in Art Education from Adelphi University (NY), an MSc in Art Therapy from Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh, U.K.), and a BFA in Painting from the Athens School of Fine Arts (GR), with additional studies in audiovisual arts in Lisbon (PT), through the Erasmus program. Despina was a mentee of the New York.

Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist Program and an artist-in-residence at the Art League of Long Island (NY). Her work has received several distinctions, and has been exhibited widely in the U.S., including at the Heckscher Museum of Art (NY), Rockefeller Center (NYC), the Art on Paper Art Fair (NYC), The Consulate General of Greece (NYC), and the Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CT). Her work has been featured in Women United Art Magazine, Suboart Art Magazine, and NAWA Now (National Association of Women Artists online magazine.)

Artist Statement

As a child growing up on the island of Crete, my most vivid memories were watching the women in my family create beautifully complex geometric patterns such as lace, crochet and also embroidery. These craft/female practices, called “ergohera” meaning “works of the hands,” are common among members of my family and inform my work.

This series entitled, Strolleroptera is based on these practices. I reinterpret their ergohera through my lens, through the transformative experience of motherhood. The word strolleroptera is my own creation composed of the English word “stroller” and the Greek word “ptera” meaning “wings”, like the Lepidoptera, an order of insects that includes butterflies. Strolleroptera reflects the two languages I speak in daily life.

To create these works, I begin with a single photograph of a long, intriguing shadow captured while pushing my twins’ stroller in the afternoon sun. I then use a process called paper cutting, a laborious and meditative process through which I transform paper into a lace-like surface. The paper is delicately cut to create a complex web that embeds the butterfly into a unified design.

My work is constructed in separated layers allowing shadows to be cast by the shifting light. This becomes a vital part of the artwork. These shadows visually mingle, creating a labyrinthine image and revealing kaleidoscopic forms of interconnected microcosms.