My Icon History
I grew up Greek and that meant going to church on Sundays surrounded and immersed by icons and saints. In the church there was an iconostasis, a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary (it can also be a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church.) I remember in the '60's when my church, St. Nicholas, got a new iconostasis, hand carved wood and all the pictures. The carving was very ornate and the pictures of the saints always interested me; also the stain glass windows. The church service was in Greek, which I didn't understand, so I had to find something to do, to look at.
My grandmother could tell your fortune from the grounds of a cup of Turkish coffee made in a brikka and she had little pieces of wood in tiny little cloth sacks that were the pieces from the true cross. She gave one to my father when he was in the army to protect him. I also have my mother's evil-eye amulet necklace. |
My grandmother also had a small collection of rocks. One, I think was quartz with something in it. It looked like a bird. It was black with something that was clear red in the middle. She said that god had gotten mad and petrified everything on earth, that's why this bird was trapped in the stone and the red was its heart.
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When I was older I was really attracted to Andy Warhol. I remember seeing his Elvis when I was around 10 or 11 years old. I was at Kent State University for 'Lil Sis' weekend when my sister was going to school there and there was an art show where Andy Warhol's Elvis was shown. It was pretty informal. I remember it being in the middle of the room and I stood right in front of it.
Andy Warhol is one of my favorite artists. Why? Recognizable images, big, colorful, simple, popular - images I can relate to -Marilyn, Elvis, Elizabeth Taylor, Campbells Soup, Brillo, repetition, production, reality, rebelling, connection, link... I am strongly influenced by Andy Warhol's iconic images and my history of icons, myths, and superstitions. |
This page and all images © Copyright 2014, EVELYN MARKASKY