Holy Icon

"Niagara Falls #2", Acrylic on canvas, June 2013

In this painting, Niagara Falls is painted from a different perspective. The falling of the water is painted in a naturalistic way. When the water falls into the lake below, however, there are rocks there that are painted in an anthropomorphic fashion. The main rock has the face of a person looking at the waterfall, and in awe of what he is looking at.

This is an enigmatic element that is introduced: the expression of a human face that has been transposed onto nature (which does not have its own face). Along with this enigma, the question of how to interpret it also arises. It’s a fact that there is nothing stable in nature, everything changes. The ancient philosopher Heraclitus said that everything disintegrates, everything changes. So here, the appearance of a human face in the rock requires reflection and has theological dimensions.