Talisman 2 : The Reliquary.

'Talisman' Part two: 'The Reliquary'. 

Elements of this panel are images and symbols suggesting that our views are culturally biased and that the best way to understand an adversary' is to engage with the culture that he subscribes to. 

Significant components:

• 'Turkic' features of the main figure; common in Greek and Turkish populations.
• Deserted Village, signifying loss and movement of peoples on both sides.
• Şehzadebasi Mosque, the work of Mimar Sinan Ottoman Architect, 1990s.
• Reliquary Vessel - Greek Orthodox.  Based on the Reliquary Vessel containing the head of St. Titus in Crete.
• Identical Church and Mosque.
• Military Boots.

The second of the three images which I call 'The Talisman' suite ( a bit posh, I know!), came about as soon as the first one had finished, more or less. At one time, I used to look at a lot of reference material before starting a piece and often it felt like I was looking for things that appealed to me visually. This image and so many of the recent 'designs for prints' are very diffrent in nature and appearance...but mostly in the meaning and the sense of urgency I feel when making them.

In this image, I looked at church and mosque design, Orthodox reliquary vessels, mutually destructive or inventive Christian/Muslim mosque to church conversions and vice versa, Ottoman armour and military boots. I was entranced by a beautiful architectural drawing of a mosque and went on to research the origins of it and the architect. See below. 

When I was growing up in the Greece of the late sixties and early seventies, it was unthinkable to believe, or suggest that the Turkish occupation of Greece had yielded any significant benefits, or buildings that merited attention. Most, if not all minarets had been demolished by teh time I left Greece and in fact, I was astonished, moved and  emotional, when as a grown man with two young children of my own in tow, I came across a restored minaret at the  Mosque "Neratzes". (Note the following from the Rethymnon site.  Still in denial: "During the Venetian times the Mosque "Neratzes" used to be a church named ‘Santa Maria'', dedicated to the Mary of Augustans. The little chapel on its west side was dedicated to the body of Christ. In 1657, the Turks turned the temple into a mosque named ‘Gazi Housein" or "Neratze", which also served as an Ottoman seminary. In 1890, the mechanic G. Daskalakis added a large minaret with two stone-made balconies to the building. Today the Mosque "Neratzes" is used as a conservatoire".)

The design above was one of many public buildings that a clearly gifted Ottoman architect Minar Sinan, had created. You can read more about his work here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimar_Sinan This beautifully balanced study of a place of worship forms the core of the second panel. I have omitted the minaret, because it distinguishes it from a church, and for me, the two things are indistinguishable. If you look carefully at the trousers above the boots, you will see...or may just about be able to see that there are two identical religious buildings, one obscured by the creases of the trousers. I drew them simultaneously and made them identical, one mosque and one church, both the same.  The island of Crete where I come from and I am sure the rest of Greece is full of examples of religious buildings that have been re-purposed for the flock of another religion. This interchangeability is the central tenet of this panel. The way that we define things through labels as opposed to radical differences. As we know, perception defines 98% of the validity of what we see. Beyond perception lies the reality fo what really IS, and by the time we get to that, our mind is the proverbial 'immovable object'.

The process of taking these drawings into large A1+ screenprints is described in my post about the first image in the trilogy, that of the eponymous 'Talisman'. The 'Reliquary' print was the least detailed as a screenprint. There was some definition lost, which created a very different experience for the viewer. The final outcomes are shown below: