Holy Mother of God. Composition № 458 1997

This Holy Mother of God painting, by Ivan Marchuk, seems to have been woven into being with a fine brush and a pinkish palette. Imagine Marchuk patiently building up the image, stroke by stroke, almost like knitting with paint. I'm always fascinated by process, and this piece makes me wonder about the artist's state of mind. Were they in a trance, lost in the rhythm of the lines? There is something obsessive about it, but also tender. The texture is so particular, like a bird's nest, or a thorny crown. The lines that make up her form remind me of folk art, but there's also something futuristic and almost digital in the repetitive mark-making. It's a reminder that artists don't exist in a vacuum. We're all magpies, picking up shiny bits of inspiration from the past and present. Painting is a conversation across time. It's not about fixed meanings but about embracing the unknown.