The Saviour of Cherobyl 2003

This image shows a traditional icon painting, likely tempera on wood, maybe egg tempera, given the artist's origins in Orthodox Christian iconography. I am always fascinated by how artists choose to depict light, especially when they're dealing with religious or spiritual themes. The gold leaf here is more than decorative—it’s about divinity, radiating the power and importance of the figures. You can imagine the artist carefully applying each layer, building up these ethereal haloes. It's so different from the way modern painters work with light, right? The composition is divided, with divine figures hovering above a landscape which seems haunted. And the palette is so rich, it’s about contrast, the dark and moody colours against the golds. I wonder how the artist felt portraying this moment, balancing tradition with the need to depict a contemporary tragedy. It's a really sensitive approach. Painters are always in conversation, echoing and responding to what’s come before, and that’s how we find new ways of seeing.