Image and Awe
It is and it is not. An image is like its subject but also unlike it. Through its likeness, a sacred image helps us to establish relationship with its subject, while through its unlikeness it suggests the subject’s otherness. This journal of liturgical art, as with my own work as a liturgical artist, is concerned…
Continue reading »The King’s Iconographer on Hierarchy, Beauty, and the Crisis of Modern Art
I had the privilege of interviewing world-renowned iconographer Aidan Hart. We discussed his time as a hermit, his career as an iconographer, his relationship with King Charles, and his artistic influences. I was particularly enlightened hearing about his time as a hermit, which lasted over a decade. He ultimately ascertained that the capacity for silence,…
Continue reading »From Popsicle Sticks to Iconostasis: Art of an Argentine Master Craftsman
“As a child I was always trying to build things with my hands.” To satisfy his desire to make things and to keep her young son occupied while she was busy with household matters, his mother bought him a huge supply of popsicle sticks. Ulises Juarez Luna advanced from those hours spent constructing popsicle castles…
Continue reading »The Church Gesamtkunstverk: Harmony of the Arts in the Church of St. Onuphrius the Great
Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art,” is a term popularized by the opera-composer Richard Wagner to describe the ideal integration of multiple art forms into a single creative vision. Clear to the Orthodox Christian, the Divine Liturgy is the supreme expression of this idea, combining communal prayer, Holy Tradition, and all the arts for the…
Continue reading »Vladimir Morosan on The Pursuit of Beauty Podcast
On two recent episodes of The Pursuit of Beauty podcast, I had the tremendous privilege of interviewing long-time Orthodox Arts Journal contributor Vladimir Morosan. He relates his experiences traveling abroad to the Soviet Union, being given access to photograph thousands of musical scores, and his process smuggling them back to the United States. He founded the…
Continue reading »Georgian Orthodox Chant – Almost Lost Forever, with Dr. John Graham
In this conversation with renowned Georgian Orthodox chant expert Dr. John Graham, we discuss the origins, history, and preservation of Georgia’s ancient three-part polyphonic sacred music. Dr. Graham—widely regarded as the foremost English-speaking authority on Georgian Orthodox liturgical chant—explores the early development of this musical tradition, from the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the…
Continue reading »Organicity and Sham
Author’s Note: This article was written for a Moscow magazine on church aesthetics, and speaks to the situation with church art in parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church. In American churches, the situation is somewhat different. For example, icons and church utensils in America are not manufactured on the massive scale that occurs in Russia.…
Continue reading »Windows to the Divine: Orthodox Icons – an Interview with Seraphim O’Keefe
In this captivating interview, iconographer Seraphim O’Keefe shares his remarkable journey from an unchurched teenager in Virginia to a novice monk in the Republic of Georgia and eventually a full-time iconographer in the Orthodox Church. He recounts his spiritual awakening through encounters with sacred art and ancient monastic traditions, surviving a 70-foot fall off a…
Continue reading »Beauty First: Envisioning a Civilization Worth Restoring (ARC Roundtable)
In February of this year, over four-thousand people gathered at the ARC Conference in London. Among them were a group of phenomenal Orthodox artists invited by Jonathan Pageau. I gathered many of these artists in our hotel lobby one evening and hosted a roundtable discussion. It was an unprecedented conversation, considering the extraordinary talents present.…
Continue reading »An American Kouvouklion: A New Design for the Tomb of Christ
Over the years, I have designed numerous furnishings for American Orthodox churches. Because America has a rich tradition of fine furniture making, I have always felt that liturgical woodwork is one of the areas in which America can offer something distinctive to Orthodox culture. When I was asked to design a kouvouklion (the liturgical “tomb”…
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