Wise Women Ikons

I have long been fascinated by medieval illuminations and portable miniature ikons. These miniature artworks engage ones’ attention in a very personal intimate interaction – one needs to come close to examine the detail. My ikons are unashamedly didactic, you are invited to open the doors and interact on a very personal level with each story. I use the concept of ikon deliberately to evoke a spiritual dimension to the visual encounter. However these are very alternate ikons, essentially I am not obeying any of the old rules of ikonography – but rather reclaiming and re-envisioning sacred-image making into a dimension of essence where everything has the potential to be divine.

I call my images the WiseWomen Ikons, explorations of  re-envisioning and finding the sacred in every woman… and most importantly, images that remind us how refreshingly joyous our life is already!

In the WiseWomen Ikon Triptychs I try to create images that capture those moments of intense consciousness of a sacred encounter, those deeply personal moments of awakening into the timeless eternal now. The images in the ikons express moments – of deepest yearning, of unutterable loneliness, of magical awakening, inexpressible elation and sometimes images that remind us how deliciously intimate our spiritual life is already…

The ikons are carved and hand-painted wood bas-relief richly decorated with motifs and symbols pertaining to each woman imaged. Although there are several themes in the WiseWomen Ikon series, all proclaim a celebration of women. The concept emerged as a further development within the Heroic Women Series of honoring women.