About

About this style of iconography

The style of iconography that you see on these pages is a modern  style with ancient roots. It is ancient in the distilled, simple perspective with which it presents Christ and his saints. A similar vision is evident at the very beginning of iconography—especially in the Romanesque and the icons of the ancient Coptic church. This style is also modern in its flatness, which we see in so much design today, and in the northern style of painting so beautifully rendered by artists like Lawren Harris from the Group of Seven.

These icons are stylistically flat, bright and direct. As a portal between heaven and earth, their flatness resonates with a sense of the eternity in which those depicted now participate. Such a focus gives a primacy to the artistic elements of line, colour and shape. The colours of each are from colourful earth pigments collected while on pilgrimage across Canada and North America. The icons of the Conestoga Iconographic Studio aim to be accessible, and can be found in a variety of churches and homes across Canada.

While vocationally a painter of traditional Orthodox icons, Symeon’s talents have also given rise to a myriad of other opportunities—art projects, public installations, and teaching opportunities—which express his additional abilities as both a conceptual and earth artist.

To read more about Symeon’s work in the arts, please visit www.vandonkelaar.ca