A Portrait of the Iconographer as a Young Artist

The "pre-Byzantine" period

Since childhood I have been drawn towards visual expression. Playing with pencil and brush always provided me with a secret room, a place where the inner world could meet outer reality. The most important sources in my life were the biblical stories and the world around me ­— the fjord, the mountains, and animal life. Growing up on a farm by the Hardangerfjord, I had innumerable majestic wonders around me all the time. We had a few art books at home. Famous artists like Albrecht Dürer and William Blake made deep impressions on me.

In my teen years, I liked to study anatomy and especially the human face.  These activities probably prepared me for my future profession as an iconographer. Long before I had ever seen an icon, the course was somehow set towards the Byzantine sphere. I wish to share some examples of these early, “pre-Byzantine” pieces of art. I was about twenty years old when I made them. A few years later in my life, I was introduced to the rich Byzantine culture.

The first image is a woodcut. The composition consists of only three elements: the face of Christ, the shape of the cross, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending. The design is simple, almost minimalistic. It has a clear, dogmatic content which, so to speak, sums up the christian faith.

The second image is made in ink and watercolor and depicts Christ with two praying, open hands below him. The image is abstract and decorative. Except for these two  elements of recognizable subject matter, the rest of the composition is filled with forms and shapes of an almost “psychedelic” quality. The contrast to the former image is striking. The first has a hard, angular character, while the second is soft and dreamy.

The third image is inspired by the schroud of Turin. This cloth is by many considered to be a relic of Christ. His facial features are balanced and beautiful, despite the context of suffering and death. I was touched by this face from the first time I saw it.

The fourth image is painted in oil color with fingers and a rough brush. It depicts the face of the suffering Savior. His eyes are closed and his features are marked by pain. The cross is indicated behind his head. This image could be seen as the “Cloth of Veronica,” the woman who, according to legend, comforted Jesus on his way to Golgotha. After she had viped his face, his imprint showed on the cloth. The Lord had given her a sign of his presence. This was an “Icon not made by human hands” – a “true image” or “Vera eikon” (a compound of the Latin “vera” with the Greek word “eikon”), the origin of the name “Veronica.”

The last image in this little survey is a traditional icon painted on driftwood, which represents my developed “Byzantine” style, but drawing on similar motifs that inspired me as a young woman. It is another icon of the “Mandylion” or the “Icon not made by human hands” (also called “the Cloth of King Abgar”). This motif shows a miraculous imprint of Christ’s face and is considered to be the first icon in history, made by the Lord himself. Here he has open eyes and his features have a neutral expression

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