Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Icons in Transformation art show

This show is officially over now but I am told that the sanctuary still has a few of the works on display. A number of the people who are congregants at this church would like to keep them permanently because of the powerful effect of the art on the worship atmosphere.
Ludmila Pawlowska is an artist educated in Russia who now lives in Sweden. She uses her art to express her faith and spiritual journey.
I was very affected by my viewing of her work. The church has also sponsored a series of lectures by icon historians along with evening of sacred music.
This is how churches should approach the arts! Combining the visual with the other usual worship forms.
The work shown was called "contemporary icons" and came in many sizes including giant slabs of heavily textured materials with a realistic eye (eye-con), painted by the artist, or a precious stone embedded within the abstraction. Some were normal-sized paintings on canvas using jewel like colors or gold leaf, and there were many smaller works, all intriguing in material and composition. Included within the displays were traditional Russian icons.

The influence that I will carry away from my encounter with this woman and her art will certainly affect my approach to the 10 worship paintings that I still need to finish for my church. (Church of the Resurrection) 
My artists team members at church have had the same type of Icon and ancient art forms approach along with exciting uses of texture and a modern sense of abstraction of forms to illuminate the scriptures.