ICONS
By Tatiana Grant:
A Photographic Essay
The works Tatiana Grant (nee Romanova) are rooted in the traditions of art established by the Byzantine, Middle Age and Renaissance periods. The themes of her work are eternal-the search for the Highest Truth, for Contemplative Beauty-and are captured in traditional forms.
In her work, Grant uses materials developed since the twelfth century in Europe, Byzantium, and Russia: cedar, birch, linden, poplar, and lime wood; hand-made glue from sturgeon fish; and 24-carat gold leaf. Technically, her work reveals a uniquely personal combination of known schools, styles, and masters. From the materials and techniques to the choice of composition, Grant paints within the traditional framework of the icon as art of form, creating original masterpieces as did her famous predecessors. Like them, she employs the new materials of her time, utlizing the brilliance and permanence of todays acrylic paints. Adhering to the medium's traditions, she portrays her own vision and continues to advance the art form of the icon.
Icon painting is a mature art based on a profound understanding of the past but is, too, a complex art difficult to capture in words since everything in it is expressed iconographically, in symbol, in artistic forms that invariably have a specific inner meaning. To be understood, the artist as well as the viewer needs a special understanding of linear design, composition, space, color, and light that have evolved over centuries. Grant's art, distinguished by the finesse of its technique, bears the imprint of that traditional royal splendor. But even as she follow the traditions of the canon, she gives new meanings, new interpretations, to themes through subtle deviations. This is the art of nuance and it is central to being a great master.
The viewer is given opportunity to discover remarkable purity and peace in her works, and Grant is deeply convinced that, through art, both artist and viewer are able to penetrate into the truth, to touch upon the supreme mystery of life,and this comes from her passionate need to express her understanding of the spiritual order she knows to prevail in this world: the poetic-visual expression of these ideas- a harmonious cosmic order triumphing over the forces of darkness.
Grant's special love is the miniature, especially for the wooden egg. Born and raised in Moscow, in a family of scientists, Grant now lives and works San Francisco. Her works are found in many churches and private collections around the world.
Arts magazine, nine one 1997, pp. 13-17