Loukia Richards

Statement

My work is inspired by the visual language of the Orthodox church that is rooted in Greek, Hellenistic and Roman art. Long before Paul Cézanne, icon painters used a cubist-expressionistic approach to depict volume, depth, time, sequence, space. In my work encaustic, mosaic or fresco is replaced by embroidery on paper, cardboard or textile. The motifs of the church manuscripts, murals or reliefs are echoed on Greek embroidery.
The face – in the image and likeness of God – is the fundament of Christian faith and aesthetics. Also adored by the Greeks and Romans, the face is the crown of Europe's pictorial traditions.
Icons are more than images. They are objects that endorse tenderness and self reflection. The saint, illuminated by eternal light, invites us to start a face-to-face relationship with him/her and with ourselves.
In times of conflict, nihilism and emotional poverty, icons still speak of endless grace, unblemished harmony, eternal beauty, unconditional love and divine justice.