Mère de Dieu

The Vladimir icon came to Rus from Constantinople in the twelfth century, and the Russian image of the Mother begins with it: the head is inclined, the Child presses cheek to cheek, and her gaze is turned not to him but to whoever stands before the icon. This type is called "Tenderness". Eight centuries later it remains the most frequent face on a Russian wall — in the home, in the car, in the wallet.

The series passes right through that image. The Vladimir Virgin on a patterned field laid like fabric. A dark face in rays of gold, where only the eyes and the tilt of the head are left of the icon. A blue veil laid in one colour. A face in relief on red, almost sculpture. And at the far end of the row a deep blue field with a single mark in which Mother and Child are read no longer by the eye but by memory. The series rests on the face: however much is taken away, it looks at you.

The technique is relief, paint, gold leaf, epoxy resin. The rays around the face are laid in leaf gold over relief, so they are not drawn but cut out of light. The dark fields are poured in many layers, the blue going down into depth. Every work is assembled by hand and exists in a numbered edition.

An image for a bedroom, a study, a nursery, a place by the door. The Mother of God does not need the whole wall: a corner is enough, but that corner becomes the centre of the room.