The Transfiguration 1989

This is a work by Stephen Antonakos, and it involves gold leaf and neon. Gold leaf! I love that. The idea of taking something so fragile and using it to catch and reflect light is wonderful. You can see how the gold leaf has been applied in small squares, like mosaic tiles, each catching the light slightly differently. It makes the surface shimmer. Then there’s the neon, bathing the gold in this otherworldly glow. The colored light transforms the static object into something that feels alive. Look at how the form is both a defined shape and an open frame. That frame suggests a window, maybe, or a portal. For me, it evokes the Byzantine icons, but updated with a modern sensibility. Like the work of Dan Flavin, Antonakos' art occupies that space between sculpture, painting, and light itself. It’s not just about what you see, but how it makes you feel.