A little while ago an iconographer wrote me to ask advice on what shape he should make the well in an icon of the Samaritan Woman, who is known in tradition as St-Photini. After answering him, I realized that this detail in the icon is a good example of how so much can be hidden […]
Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov are recognized as forerunners in the rediscovery of the carved icon and we have featured their work here before. This time we present a feature interview with the Azbuhanov couple thanks to the kind collaboration of Paul Stetsenko who translated the whole interview from Russian into English for us. The Azbuhanovs carvings circulate in the […]
Last year I was asked by a patron to carve a large icon of the Transfiguration. She said: “I am curious to see how you will do that.” I understood immediately what she meant, and her comment for me went to the core of what icon carving attempts to grapple with. So much of Orthodox theology, especially since St-Gregory of Palamas […]
Last year I wrote a few articles on a new initiative in Canada called BYZANTIUM: Ottawa International Byzantine Arts Symposium an initiative under the direction of Lesia Maruschak. One of the highlights of Byzantium was the opening exhibition featuring the icons of George Kordis, several Romanian iconographers and two Canadian artists: myself and Maruschak. BYZANTIUM’s highlight […]
One of the most surprising images one is faced with considering Orthodox liturgical symbolism is the bishop’s staff sporting two snakes flanking a small cross atop it. Especially in a Protestant North American context, this image seems to hark back to ancient chthonian cults, more a wizard’s magic staff than anything Christian. As I have […]
This is post 3 of 3 in the series “The Right and Left Hand in Iconography” This post is the third part of a series. Part one: Mercy on the Right, Rigor on the Left, Part two: St-Peter on the Right, St-Paul on the Left One of the aspects of Right/Left symbolism that is so […]
There are certain Medieval forms which have always been with me, seeming to affect an almost hypnotic attraction. The casket reliquary or “chasse” is one of these. Shaped like a tomb, but also suggesting a basilica church, these reliquaries most probably originate in early insular (Gaelic/Celtic/Pictish/Saxon) art. Most of us know this shape primarily from […]