Genesis
Holy Spirit
In the shadow of Mt.Tabor
All of my paintings are done in acrylic on canvas. I often use gold leaf. Each work has it's inspiration from the Orthodox Christian Divine Liturgy, passages from Scripture that speak to me during the Gospel Readings, Feast Days and from my prayer time. I use my brush and my gifts to Glorify God. I am inspired and approach my work as one does in the writing of an icon process. The canvas often starts out as a black gessoed canvas. Each layer of paint I apply is lighter than the last, until finally the last few strokes are applications of the lightest hue. My paintings are ten to twelve layers of transparent and translucent paint. I use interference powders that reflect light and interact with light and the position of the viewer. The paintings thematically are always about "Light" and the recovery of "light" in "darkness". The painting size is no smaller than 6' x 6' and as big as 9' x 4'. I see the works as portals into light and into a deeper positioning into my Orthodox Christian faith and on the precipice of the mystical relationship with our Lord.
ARTIST STATEMENT – Angelica Sotiriou
“I don’t know how
But suddenly there is no darkness left at all
The sun has poured itself inside me
From a thousand wounds.”
~Vretakos Nikophoros
I have gone full circle.
For the first twenty years I created large narrative bas-relief figurative sculptures. Working in such a large format required tremendous physical tenacity, which took its toll and, as if by “plan”, brought me back to where my art began many years ago. Over the last two decades, drawing and painting, line and colour and contemplative compositions have become my ‘voice’ again.
My recent drawings and paintings have been a personal journey of uncovering and revealing pathways, windows and portals of light and of spirit.
These days, when I face my canvas, I seem to be standing on a precipice. I am a witness to voyeuristic conversations exchanged between my mind, my heart and my artist hand. Each new work has illuminated another section of a path that takes me further into un-chartered visceral silence. Creating these works has become a wordless cry to find my way back home again.
I am grateful.
Angelica Sotiriou
2013
Angelica (Sotiriou-Rausch)
Making art is like touching the hem of God's garment
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