The Goldilocks Zone
Elena Adamou
Description
In physics, a circumstellar habitable zone is the area around a star where a planet, given sufficient mass and atmospheric pressure, can sustain water on its surface. This area is metaphorically referred to as “the Goldilocks Zone”, inspired by the classic children’s fairy tale. In the story, a little girl named Goldilocks, when faced with sets of three, always chooses the option that’s “just right”, ignoring the two extremes.
In The Goldilocks Zone, water can flow, allowing life to exist in its — so far known — form. Where water flows, people flow, and intimate stories are woven as memories unfold. Inspired by this idea, the double-sided fabric depicts an aerial view of an imaginary land, a homeland surrounded by water.
During its creation, which involved a computer-controlled digital Jacquard loom, technical issues prevented the process from following the originally submitted design. A shaft system movement error controlling the warp threads left the machine moving in an uncontrolled rhythm. The unwoven threads, a cascade resembling a glitch effect, were manually woven back into the fabric. The piece is therefore a result of human–machine interaction.
credits
Artwork pictures front and back: Nicos Louca
Detail pictures: Elena Adamou
Elena Adamou
Elena Adamou lives and works in Nicosia. She studied Painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, where she also completed an MA in Costume Design. She lived and worked in Milan as an artist, performer and textile laboratory technician until 2021, when she returned to Cyprus.
Her practice revolves around the intimate dimension of time and the resilience of vulnerable beings. She explores the relationship between time and the body, the self and personal objects, and the sense of belonging in both familiar environments and non-places. Her work spans embroidery, textile manipulations, installation and video.
In 2023, she presented her first solo exhibition at Archive Artspace (Nicosia) with the multimedia installation The Wardrobe. In 2026, she debuted her Iconographies (Tiny Resistance, Crevices and Other Creatures), her first solo exhibition in Italy at primopiano, an independent exhibition space in the province of Pescara, produced by Magnus Tempus 360° with the support of Producer 360 Ltd. and the Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus.
She has participated in group exhibitions in Cyprus and abroad, including Fluid Persistence (NiMAC, Nicosia, 2025-2026), International Biennale Révélations – Cyprus Handicraft Service Pavilion (Grand Palais, Paris, 2025), Feeling – 4th Annual Installation Art Festival (NPAK, Yerevan, 2024), MiniArtextil (Pinacoteca di Como, 2021) and Rea! Art Fair (Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan, 2020).
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