My fascination with these religious art forms is not the dogma they carry but their personal heart-felt connection with "the other", that force beyond I call Spirit.  All three are intimate objects inviting a direct petition to that which is unseen.
 

Mexican Retablos Painting       (back to top)

The Mexican tradition of Retablos Painting refers to small oil painting of religious subject matter executed on tin.  From approximately 1830 - 1880, this native art form flourished as artists traveled the countryside to offer their services.  These artists were usually untrained  and expressed the needs of their clients in non-realistic terms.  They were more concerned with portraying what they knew and felt within  than with the physical world around them.  Retablos paintings were typically commissioned by an individual or family for a specific need or want.  Since they were intended for personal devotional use within the home, they reflect an intimate, sincere, and intense system of beliefs that radiate with spirituality.  Retablos paintings are usually no larger than 14 to 16 inches. http://kalarte.com/mexicopix/sanjuan/sanjuan.html

 

 

Byzantine Icons           (back to top)

Although most often associated with the Russian culture, icon painting was first practiced by the Greeks who brought the art to Russia during the  Byzantine empire.  Created within the religious order, the priests communed  with the '"spirits" in order to attained another level of consciousness while the  icons were being produced. The word icon derives its meaning from the Greek word eikon, meaning  likeness.  As tradition dictated, icons were images or portraits of holy  persons within the Christian faith, yet they served a unique and complex  religious function.  The icons acted as a link between the earthly viewer and the spiritual realm.  Invoking a kind of mystical reality all its own, the icon served as bridge into the "heavenly" presence of the sacred person. These icons rarely exceed human proportions and many are small enough to be portable objects of devotion.

 

 

Shrines and Altars          (back to top)

This photograph, taken in 1986 while traveling in St. Barts, documents the first time I saw a road side altar.  There it sat nestled within the curve's elbow, perch high above the ocean.  I asked my husband to turn our dune-buggy around to get a closer look.  It's crude golden plaster exterior had caught my eye but as I walked closer I was mesmerized by the photographs, flowers and sea shells thoughtfully arranged inside.  I was flooded with feelings of holy reverence, comfort, inspiration, and a sense of longing I would not understand until years later. From this time onward, I have happened upon these sacred sites and searched for them in my travels.