Filokalija

When artist is an authentic witness and confessor of faith, the art becomes a passage to the invisible world. In“Reversed Perspective”,artist reviles existence of something beyond the obvious fact of miracle, found in “everyday’’- the discovery of God’s presence,developing the endless possibilities of “practicing imagination”,and focusing direction towards achieving the highest goal: Redemption, Revelation and Salvation. We can feel at first hand the presence of the Holy Spirit, of Its Uncreated Energy . It all has one goal – the change of the entire visible world. Its complete, essential transfiguration.At some times,we simply do not know if we are on earth or in heaven. We feel, with our entire being, that God is with us at that time. Truly with us.Those moments of stepping into eternity ,I have named ‘’eterniments’’.
As this would be explained by one of the Russian Byzantines, father Pavel Florensky: “There are three important characteristics of the Holy Spirit – beauty, enabling community and consolation”. “The truth expressed by beauty is secretive, it can not be decoded, nor can it be interpreted in words. But, when human being, its personality, finds itself next to this beauty, faces it – it will feel its presence, if nothing then by the chill down the spine which it would give you. Beauty is like a miracle which is being witnessed, without intention, by man”, said Tarkovsky, soon before he dies. And added: “My art is a prayer to God”…
Holy Spirit is directing us to the greatest secrets of human existence. Without any effort, He discovers to us the meaning of living, testifying the beauty of the world to come. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to fall in love with God as much as we possible can.
Artist always creates in synergy with the Holy Spirit, never only with his own energy. The secret of “sobornost” (“togetherness”),is reflected in fact that a person exists only in community, in a council.Therefore, the invocational blessing of an artist who is trough his art praying for each one of us is a special gift from God. And he is praying both for the believers and for those unchristened, for those who are in the altar and for those in narthex, and for those who are outside church, for the believing people and for those who still did not recognize the God.He is praying for all, with no difference.
Trough creative process I feel the secret of exciting beauty of orthodoxy, about which from the depths of the centuries speaks Gregory of Nyssa: ‘’And the soul, reaching the state which corresponds to its true nature, does not fear anything anymore. It catches the everlasting, eternal longing for the life of the world to come.”
The book ‘’Saint Silouan the Athonite’’, written by his deciple Archimandrite Sophrony ,has inspired me to create a serial of drawings and monoprints that are reflecting on spiritual life; how to conduct spiritual combat, on the inner peace and upon all, how to love one’s enemy.The various quotations from the book are integrated into those drawings .
In an essay’ The Joyful Sorrow of Byzantium illuminates Europe’ dedicated to my artwork , Dean Nicholson, the author, explains symbols, presence of humor and playfulness of my work:‘For those yet unready for the terrifying Splendor and the Peace of Holy Icons, there are her small, crazy,God’s Fool paintings, which by their ontological tenderness, embrace all kind of beasts and “small demons”, in an actual anagogic Maelstrom. In fact, they embrace us all, and the demon elements of our souls, converting them, purifying them by passion – thereby folly for the sake of Christ and eschatology representing (and praying with love in colours: glorifying Truth in Colors!) the highest spiritual conditions, apparently by “low” images of ’dissimilar similarity’ achieving in such a way even better her own purpose, than she would do by images of ‘similar similarity’(the kathafatical, unlike her apophatical ones).’’
Symbols of Heart and Dessert are related to the spiritual life as well. When we pray, we hear, see and think with heart (“mind of heart”) what is also impossible to hear, see or think of. And we do start to believe, in the reality of miracle. And finally, we understand that liturgical appeal: “Let us have the heart!”
Desert is one of the best corresponding images of transgression of all universe in the fallen human soul in which a man can discover in the clearest way the secret of his own state of neglect and the life of a castaway, and in this secret, perhaps a man can also discover even more terrible secret of this secret: the one of his own desertion, more exactly of himself as the only and the first one desert-creating renegade: the devastator.
The secret lies in fact that each desert is always someone’s desert. Man became devastated.Once upon a time he deserted, and he is still deserting himself personally, by leaving The One Whom he does not even wishes to remember. But where sin is multiplied, multiplied is grace all the more: where desperation multiplies, multiplied is hope all the more: where desert is multiplied, multiplied is all the more joyful sorrow (harmolipi) of the prayer beyond the pessimism and the optimism of the hearts of the Heart of everyone and everything Which Is Praying With Inexpressible Sighs for each and every one of us.
“For the present we see things as if in a mirror, and are puzzled; but then we shall see them face to face…” Saint Apostle Paul(1 Corinthians 13:12)

Contact details
Ms  Jasna  Nikolic
5b
Newton Road
London
W2 5JP
0794 722 9783
jasna_nikol@yahoo.co.uk
www.jasnanikolic.com

Primary Art Form
Visual Arts and Designer Makers

Other Artform categories
Ceramics
Conservation
Public Art
Site Specific Artist
Visual Arts