Gold works (series), 2023, acrylic pen, acrylic ink, gouache and beads on cotton paper
Virgin Mother and Holy Child, 2023, acrylic pen, gouache and beads on cotton paper
Combining beaded embroidery and iconographic illustration, this series explores the use of gold as a visual language to communicate divine powers. Ongoing research into religious art making across various cultures and times is evident in the works and allows the patterns to express the ways that human beings have represented spirituality and the sublime. What began as interpretations of Byzantine-style halos that decorate icons of Catholic saints has evolved to stand alone as amalgamations of religious meaning. The works blur the lines between devotion and delusion through reference to medieval manuscript illustrations including the religious visions of Saint Hildegarde von Bingen as well as the physical works of ancient jewelers and goldsmiths; the ‘handmade divine’ is celebrated. Additionally, the processes of embroidering and drawing require such a meditative concentration that the works begin to physically map the artist’s internal mind space.
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Evie Kacskovics studies Visual Arts and Music. She works within various disciplines including photomedia, screen and video, drawing and illustration, painting and textiles. Fascinated by the histories of divine symbolism, religious iconography and popular culture her works vary from neurotic embroidery to absurdist video collage.