By Zeta Tzioti

On a remote hilltop in Kato Koufonissi, where the wind carries stories and the horizon never ends, a garden grows — not just of plants and stone, but of meaning, memory, and quiet transformation. This is the living creation of Joy, an architect-artist whose work defies categorization. Melding Cycladic tradition with Scandinavian minimalism, recycled materials with poetic words, and solitude with deep human connection, Joy has turned his home into a space of reflection and silent wonder.

Far from the spotlight, he has crafted a place that visitors don’t simply “see” — they feel. They pass through it, they carry it with them.

In this rare interview, Joy invites us into his world: a world where nature leads, art listens, and the soul finds its way back to stillness.

-JOY, what first drew you to Kato Koufonissi, and why did you choose this particular island as the canvas for your work?

-Upon summer end/autumn of 1995 (after 5 years absence of any communication) I have received a phone call invitation to come and visit a freshly ready built house in kato koufonissi.
This very same house we reside in, from then & up to this day, I was assisting to bring forward while in sketch stages by building a 3-dimension mini model, using my skills and knowledge as a graduated architect.

This took a place back in the very early summer of 1990 upon me visiting Greece and AMORGOS ISLAND for the very first time. Little I knew then that there I am going to meet my going to be partner for life and love, to reside together on the wild and lonely island of KATO.

So, in a way it can be said that i have been invited by this Kato Koufonissi island and it-given itself to become a canvas for a creation yet to be unfolded into the unknown future.

-Your garden blends Cycladic tradition with a more Scandinavian or worldwide minimalism—how consciously did you merge these two worlds, and what challenges did you face?

-Living in and giving myself to both worlds of a very WILD AND PRISTINE NATURE (a Greek island and a Scandinavian forest) keep influencing tremendously and shaping for the better my inner experience and artistic expressions.

The real & main challenge for me personally (also as an artist/creator) is to reduce the hectic noise of the mind by giving myself to must long periods of silence (in solitude) and by this enable and permit that which wish to express itself THROUGH ME to come forward “in spite of me”.

-Many of your sculptures use recycled materials. Is sustainability a central philosophy of your design, or more of a practical necessity on a remote island?

-Both sustainability and practical necessity brought a solution and gave a birth to a creation which respectfully enhance the environment (by an harmonious contrast) while at the same time “restoring a crown to its former glory” to all the man made & natural “waste” scattered on land, as well as the brought by the sea current and being accumulated at the beaches around.

-Several of your installations include phrases about happiness and life. What role do words and text play in your visual storytelling?

-Introducing very carefully selected positive WORDS and leading-complimenting SHORT PHRASES to the visual installations enhance-evoke-accelerate and stimulate the must involve FEELINGS and EMOTIONS for experiencing- understanding-fully grasping the hidden storytelling this garden is keep “whispering” to us all, yet through me.

-Visitors often describe the garden as a journey rather than a place. Did you design it deliberately as an experience of movement, or did that evolve naturally?

-This garden has a will of its very own…from the very start it was storytelling itself very spontaneously and without any seemingly predicted built up pattern or an evolving continuation.

At times I have (and still am) being challenged with resistance and doubts that rather quickly are to be replaced with trust and faith in the process by constantly reminding myself that my role as an artist-creator is to permit and allow it all to express-come to life-manifest itself through me while making sure I am to be there fully and willingly, yet out of its mysterious ways.

-The project has been described as mysterious, even secretive. Why have you chosen to remain in the shadows rather than step forward as the face of your work?

-Long periods of silence and solitude are a must for my well-being, while assisting and fueling my wild imagination, nature and creativity.
“Staying in the shadow” enables me to continue focusing and performing this work calmly-joyfully-without the stress and without giving myself to the possible “temptation” of very easily proclaiming it all as “mine” or it rather being all about “me”.
By that I am enabling, while assuring (first to myself) that the main focus stays and shines its light on the shared GRAND MESSAGE, rather than on the (just) messenger.

While obviously it is, that the painting brush is a must essential in the process of the creation/painting, it is forever still just the instrument-tool that brings to life the grand masterpiece itself, which count the most.

-How do the local residents of Koufonissi perceive your creation—do they see it as a contribution to the island, or something more private?

-Humans are humans, wherever we are and wherever we go!

At the beginning, anything and everything which is very new-different-unfamiliar is welcomed with criticism-ridicule-resistance which sooner or later are all being transformed and clearing the way to an acceptance-tolerance and respect.

-Nature in the Cyclades can be unforgiving—wind, salt, and heat. How do you ensure the garden not only survives but thrives under these conditions?

-The plants and art installations GARDEN is located on a hill top-360 degrees open view and being exposed to all the elements from all sides (sun-wind-rain-salt-humidity etc.)
The man planted vegetation is mainly self-sustained and adjusted to desert like conditions (cactuses variety) while the art and other installations are in a constant must and need for maintenance-adjustments-fixing and improvements on a yearly-monthly-weekly basis.

Everything survives-thrives and responds equally to the time-attention & intention invested in it.

 -Do you consider the garden a finished artwork, or is it something you will continue to adapt, modify, and expand in the years to come?

-Little I knew or could imagine myself, years ago, to become a care taker of a garden/project that keeps flourishing-grows and reinvent itself on a yearly basis.

This “GARDEN OF THE PEOPLE” beat-will and wish to grow-expand-give and bring joy-smile and inspiration to people while also and at the same time being a home-shelter and a playground to the vast wild life of the island (birds-bees-cats-lizards-migrating birds etc)

 -Ultimately, what do you hope a visitor carries away after stepping out of your garden and back into the bare landscape of the island ?

-The visitors witnessing the GARDEN are sailors and land (holiday) guests for the day on our island who must pass by it, since they are walking the one and only main foot path that cross the island on their anyhow way to/from the more further beaches and back/to the one and only taverna and harbor on this small and almost uninhabited wild island.

More than ever before, we live in a very challenging times in an ever increasing noisy lifestyle-hectic world and mindset.

Ultimately, the found by surprise garden and spirit are to bring a possible easing SENSATIONS of smile-joy and a bit of an inner peace to reflect upon passing through it and leaving it not behind, rather carrying it with one’s heart and soul back into the bare landscape of the way yet ahead.

The respectful sharp contrast between the 2 assist in enhancing and emphasizing the beauty of both the nature/al and the man made, suggesting for a possible more respectful-harmonious-joyful coexistence instead of the ongoing conflict (first in mind) over the one or the other !?

 -What will be your creations for next year?

-Presently 6 more NEW installations & improvements are already on the make and programmed to be completed into the coming 2026 summer season.

The Mysterious Designer Behind the Secret Garden in Kato Koufonissi