The iconographer
Solrunn Nes has represented the authentic tradition of Christian sacred art for two decades. That tradition is best expressed by the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787 AD), which stated:
The making of icons was not the creation of the painters, but an accepted institution and tradition from within the universal Church ... The idea and tradition came from the fathers, not from the painters. Only the art belongs to the painter, whereas the form without doubt comes from the fathers, who founded the Church.
In other words, the common classical heritage of Christian iconography is embedded in an objective tradition, one that is conventional, canonical, dogmatic, didactic and liturgical.
Solrunn Nes — a western European convert to Roman Catholicism — possesses a profound knowledge and love of Eastern Christianity, and is a true representative of the Nicaea II tradition. She studied icon painting in Finland with Father Robert de Caluwé, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens under the supervision of Professor Konstantin Xinopoulos. She has also traveled extensively in Greece, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Russia and Egypt. She now works as a freelance iconographer, writer, and occasional lecturer. She also has produced two books of interest to every art historian, theologian and layperson seeking a deeper understanding of iconography,
The Mystical Language of Icons and
The Uncreated Light, which combine theological insight with art history.
All of the icons presented here are painted on gessoed wood panel in the traditional egg tempera technique, and manufactured step by step in accordance with the theology of the Byzantine tradition.
