Holy Icon

"From a particular moment onwards our traditional art had touched upon my heart. I thought I had discovered a kind of a hidden, mystical beauty. I bathed in the light of the Byzantine icon regarding everything else as being secondary. However, I needed to find a way—after having lived out tradition internally—to express it in my own work in relation to the issues of our time. That is: I needed to act just as an ancient Hellene or a Byzantine would act if living in our times. I borrowed the bright colors and brilliant brush strokes from Impressionism and clothed them with the centripetal lighting of an Icon. It is thus, in my opinion, that emerged an art of painting similar to the Hellenistic, Greco-Roman, but, simultaneously, both Byzantine and modern. In other words, the East has moved closer to the West, and the so called secular art to that which is seen as sacred."

"I would begin with the words of one painter and professor at the Academy 'Bozar' in Paris, who is not a member of the Church. When he came to one of my exhibits in Paris and saw my Theotokos of Vladimir, he said, 'You know what, that you painted a copy of an icon from the 11th, 12th century, for me as a contemporary man, means nothing. It only means that people in the 11th century believed that the Theotokos gave birth to Christ. If you as a contemporary man want to preach Christ and the Theotokos, you have to find a contemporary manner of painting, so that we are convinced that that which you are preaching is true. Everything you transfer from the past, it is not real, that is, it’s not yours; those are others who lived that faith and you only show us that they had faith.' This was the essential question for me. Secondly, the late Fr. Porphyrios, at one time in Athens asked me: 'Why do you iconographers put some sort of shadows on the faces, between the forehead and the nose?' My answer was that it was the Byzantine style. This holy man answered: "Do not stick to that! It is important that a Saint, when he is in the grace of God, is all in light and has no shadows. Please, portray that in the icons. This is reality! That is the truth of the Saint!' And he himself (Fr. Porphyrios) resided in light…"

"Aπό κάποια στιγμή καί μετά ή παραδοσιακή μας τέχνη μέ χτύπησε στήν καρδιά. Νόμισα πώς ανακάλυψα μιάν ομορφιά μυστική. Λούστηκα στό φώς τής βυζαντινής εικόνας κι όλα τ'άλλα τά θεωροϋσα δεύτερα. Όμως έπρεπε νά βρεθή τρόπος, άφού εμβιώσω τήν παράδοση, νά τήν εκφράσω στό εργο μου μέ τόν προβληματισμό τής εποχής μας. Ό,τι δηλαδή θάκανε κι ένας αρχαίος Έλληνας ή ένας Βυζαντινός, άν ζουσε στίς μέρες μας. Δανείστηκα τά φωτεινά χρώματα καί τίς αστραφτερές πινελιές του εμπρεσιονισμού καί τά εδάμασα μέ τόν κεντρομόλο φωτισμό τής Εικόνας. Έτσι προέκυψε, νομίζω, μιά ζωγραφική σάν ελληνιστική, ελληνορωμαϊκή, αλλά καί βυζαντινή καί μοντέρνα ταυτόχρονα. Δηλαδή γεφυρώθηκε ή ανατο-λή μέ τή δύση καί ή λεγόμενη κοσμική τέχνη μέ τή θεωρούμενη ώς ιερή."

"A partir d'un certain moment notre art traditionnel m'a touché le coeur. J'ai pensé avoir découvert une beauté secrète. Je me suis baigné dans la lumière de l'icône byzantine et je considérais tout le reste comme étant secondaire. Mais je devais, après avoir vécu la tradition profondément dans moi-même, l'exprimer dans mon oeuvre avec la problématique de notre époque. C'est-à-dire, ce qu'il ferait un Grec ancien ou un Byzantin, s'il vivait à notre époque. J'ai emprunté les couleurs claires et les coups de pinceau brillants de l'impressionisme et je les ai domptés avec la lumière centripète de l'Icône. Ainsi a-t-elle résulté, à mon avis, une peinture pareille à l'hellénistique, grécoromaine, byzantine et moderne aussi. C'est-à-dire l'Orients' est approché de l'Occident et l'art dit profane avec l'art considéré comme sacré."

- Fr. Stamatis Skliris