Icons 

Editor: We’re looking at a work by Jerzy Nowosielski titled “Icons”, made with tempera and oil paint. These painted panels, arranged together, evoke a feeling of timelessness. There's something very serene about them. What visual language speaks to you most in this piece? Curator: It's the persistent echo of Byzantine tradition resonating across time. The artist employs recognizable symbolic forms. Take the halos, for example; how do they function, not just as identifiers of sanctity, but as a cultural memory ingrained within the visual lexicon? Editor: The halos definitely stand out! I also see stylized figures and the limited color palette—all pointing back to the Byzantine style. Is it simply stylistic borrowing, or something more? Curator: Nowosielski wasn’t merely replicating; he was reinterpreting. He seems interested in exploring how ancient visual vocabularies speak to contemporary spiritual seeking. Consider the deliberate flatness, almost a rejection of Western perspective. What does that denial imply, do you think, about our relationship to the divine? Editor: Maybe a more direct connection, less mediated by realism? So the visual style isn't just decorative, but functional, serving a deeper spiritual purpose. Curator: Precisely. How do you feel that the artist’s choices succeed in building this bridge to something profound? How can we learn to view them, ourselves? Editor: It's like Nowosielski is offering us a pathway back to a sense of awe, reminding us of the enduring power of these symbols. Curator: Absolutely. This artwork showcases that imagery is not merely representative but also carries with it centuries of emotional, cultural, and psychological weight, influencing both artist and viewer.