Egg tempera on prepared marine plywood 15x18cm
If you are an orthodox Christian, Today is Angel day! Otherwise known as the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the other Bodiless Powers: Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel, & Barachiel.
In this painting I have ventured into unknown territory for me. Byzantine iconography (or Greek painting) has a very long and fascinating history and because of its endurance it has had a profound influence on painting both east and west. It is extremely high on the technical level scale. This is a copy I made of an old icon. I wanted to study its intricate details.
Egg tempera cannot be accurately photographed. It is a very charming medium because it is extremely volatile to light, changing dramatically what you see in the painting throughout the day. More so in my opinion than any other medium. This is what makes owning an actual painting rather than a reproduction such a privilege.
Byzantine iconography is a painting tradition that is part of a spiritual practice. It is not decoration. You pray to it. As a Christian liturgical object used for nearly 2000 years, it was progressively designed to be viewed in a world where people went to bed at sunset and the darkness of night was illuminated by an oil lamp. In a secluded personal space by the light of a flickering candle its high contrasts soften and come to life. These paintings have presence. In our day and age where the rancid light of a screen dominates our lives and thousands of images are flashed at us as gifs through these glaring panels of light that facilitate addiction rather than depth, the intimate experience of living with a painting, especially these paintings that help connect you to a living person in another realm, is lost to most people. Having information through a screen is not the same as personal experience. Within this painting tradition in particular, the viewer is not a passive onlooker of a receding image that one can never be a part of. Voyeurism seems inherent in all images built on the rules of perspective. There is the pleasure of the image but you remain alone outside the frame, a world apart. Here we have the opposite. These images reverse perspective. The vanishing point is in the eye of the beholder. So unlike an image based on perspective, this image moves towards you. Someone arrives to greet you and you become a part of the painting as the visible and invisible worlds meet. Without you the painting is not complete. It can be likened to a theatrical play where the action onstage is counterbalanced and completed by its audience. It is a remarkable achievement in design that has its roots in ancient Greek art and culture. The deep need for human interaction and connection finds visual expression and is ultimately adapted to express one of the most basic tenets of Christian theology. That we are all one.
Human beings have been painting for thousands of years. Painting is like a wise old man. Everything has been done. And yet in every age each generation is called to dive into the accumulated wisdom of the elders who show the way in order to reinvigorate and reinvent it. I no longer believe in the trope of revolution and individual creative genius when humanity and truth is so dependent on community through the ages in all manner of science and art. It takes a tremendous variety of people to keep that cog constantly turning.
As I embark on this journey, please wish me luck!
