A Place of Presence

This paper examines the studio of an iconographer as text, showing links to each essential component of the art maker's world: a strong attachment to tradition and prototypes, a life of contemplation, a sense of belonging to community, and the unveiling of the image as the place one meets the presence of the divine, through a process of transformation. As part of a larger vision to understand others and ourselves, the phenomenon of this artist's experience suggest that inclusion of spiritual understanding in art practice and instruction is a necessary consideration in the arts.