Adelphe: Triptych Variations by Seren
Adelphe reminds us that even in repetition, we are never the same twice — that kinship is not about unity, but the courage to see our reflections in shifting light.
In this new sequence, Adelphe emerges not as a single print but as a field of transformation — a meditation on how form mutates through iteration.
In Adelphe, Seren explores the tension between similarity and separation — between the mirrored and the distinct. The series of triptychs presents variations on a single linocut: three faces sharing one origin, yet each carrying its own pulse of difference. The work’s title, derived from the Greek word for sister, signals its central concern — not replication, but relation. These prints are kin to one another, not clones.
The genesis of Adelphe was a single hand-cut block, its sharp symmetry dividing one face into two. Each side carries its own rhythm of mark-making: curved lines ripple through the hair like sound waves, while the eyes — asymmetrical, unblinking — suggest both recognition and disquiet. When these forms are repeated in triptych, the imagery becomes something more than portraiture. It becomes dialogue. Three versions of the same being gaze across the frame, meeting in the space between.
What emerges is a meditation on difference within likeness — the way sisters, friends, or creative selves echo each other while never aligning completely. The subtle variations in tone, shadow, and registration speak to this. One print may appear softer, another more assertive, a third carrying the texture of fatigue or clarity. None is dominant; each reflects an aspect of the same unseen whole.
In many of the triptychs, the central figure feels almost spectral — a blurred, liminal twin suspended between two more defined presences. This middle presence evokes memory, absence, or the quiet inheritance of traits passed invisibly between siblings. There is tenderness in this configuration, but also unease. The viewer becomes a fourth participant, caught in the act of triangulation, searching for the “real” Adelphe among the three.
Seren’s process magnifies these subtleties. Linocut is inherently an act of subtraction — carving away until form emerges. But in the triptych series, what is taken away returns through repetition. Imperfections accumulate like fingerprints. Ink distribution, paper texture, and digital re-photography each leave their trace. These are not technical errors; they are evidence of a living process, a lineage of making and remaking.
Adelphe draws its strength from intimacy. The abstraction here is emotional rather than formal — a portrait of connection and difference rendered through mark and rhythm. It is both collective and personal, echoing the complex symmetry of sisterhood, of self-reflection, of creative identity doubled and redoubled through time.
The Adelphe Triptych series will be released later this year as a limited run through the Art of FACELESS Shopify store. Each piece will be printed, numbered, and signed by Seren, accompanied by a short statement about its genesis. A capsule collection of fashion-ware featuring Adelphe’s central motif will also be available — extending the work’s tactile language from print to fabric, from paper to movement.
Adelphe reminds us that even in repetition, we are never the same twice — that kinship is not about unity, but the courage to see our reflections in shifting light.
