|
| Elias Damianakis shows the traditional iconography he is creating for the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Safety Harbor. |
by Floyd Egner Publisher, Tropical Breeze
Elias Damianakis works with materials and images that have not changed for nearly 2,000 years as he reverently and lavishly decorates the interior of a small church in Safety Harbor.
The respect for tradition is inherent in his work as a master iconographer, illuminating images that faith says are true to images created by artists who may have known Jesus and his apostles personally. They are a key decoration in a church that aspires to maintain the very oldest traditions and beliefs of Christianity.
|
|
|
Tropical Breeze photos by Sue Suby
The new sanctuary at the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Safety Harbor is sparsely decorated now, but 90 percent of the walls above the chair rail and the ceiling will be covered in icons and religious imagery when Elias Damianakis is finished next fall. Above, he is shown with some of the icons that are being reproduced for the new sanctuary.
|
The Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Safety Harbor just last month opened its new sanctuary, which Damianakis is decorating with a goal of covering nearly every square inch of walls and ceiling with colorful icons. The church is located on S.R. 580, just west of Philippe Parkway. For more than 10 years the congregation has been meeting in a single room of a converted four-bedroom home on the property.
Icons are central to every Orthodox Church, Father Peter Tutko explained. Sanctuaries of such churches also differ from most Christian churches in not having pews. Congregants stand during services, sometimes packed shoulder to shoulder at times such as when many visitors came to attend the final services in the previous one-room sanctuary. The Rev. Tutko said nearly 200 people crowded that final service before assisting in moving the church’s icons, holy relics and sacraments to the new sanctuary.
The church is kept small deliberately, partly to keep it intimate and also in the tradition of Orthodox churches throughout the world, he said. The Safety Harbor church began as an offshoot of another Bay Area congregation and is now spinning off another congregation, which is meeting in southern Hillsborough County. If the local church becomes overcrowded, another chapel will be constructed, but it will not be similar to the mega-churches that now dominate McMullen Booth Road.
“Every Orthodox Church is the same,” Damianakis said. “Every one is patterned after the Hebrew Temple (in Jerusalem).” The Orthodox Church traces its origins to 33 A.D and regards itself as being closest of all churches in following the original teachings of Jesus.
Every church also is decorated with the icons like those Damianakis creates. He is a master at his craft and is renowned worldwide. He has created iconography for churches throughout the U.S. and Europe, has won the Florida Heritage Award for Folk Arts and is currently a National Endowment for the Arts finalist. But the Safety Harbor church is special. It is the church he attends with his wife Angela and their three children.
“It is very rare for a single iconographer to do an entire church,” the Rev. Tutko said. Damianakis creates his pieces in his New Port Richey studio, using egg tempera paints, natural hair or bristle brushes and traditional materials, including all-hide glues that are used to attach the finished works to the walls. Part of his training as a master iconographer was learning how to make all of his tools as well as how to create paint from pigments that yield the bright colors that are crucial to the authenticity of the icons.
“Color is very important and symbolic,” he said. “Purple is divinity; blue is humanity.” The color of a cloak in an image may indicate the level of holiness of that individual as regarded by the church. Such colorations were established by the third or fourth century and have not been altered since, which is part of why the images are in fact called “icons.” They do not change by an artist’s whim, even though renderings may differ somewhat because of the artist’s ability.
A visit to the Safety Harbor church can become a lesson in the history of iconography. On its ceiling, Damianakis has installed the “Platytera,” an icon of the Virgin Mary. The Greek name literally means “more spacious than the heavens.” Behind the altar is “The Communion of the Apostles,” the Eastern Orthodox mural of the last supper. The images are commonly referred to as being of saints, but Damianakis notes there is no word in either Greek or Russian for “saint.”
“There are only levels of holiness,” he said. “The Virgin is All Holy.”
Filling what are now empty spaces of blue wall will be angels, archangels and seraphim — and more icons. They all will be in the tradition of ancient Greek Byzantine and Russian icons. Although the sanctuary is now in use and boasts notable icons, Damianakis estimates he will need at least until October to complete work on the project.
Iconography is expensive. In addition to the cost of the artist’s time and talent, materials include 24K gold, which is used as gold leaf for halos and highlights in the icons. The Safety Harbor project will cost about a quarter of a million dollars and is largely underwritten by The Icon Fund, which Damianakis founded.
Damianakis is regarded as perhaps the leading icon restorer in the U.S. and has been involved in various church restorations and repairs after disasters. He creates not only original large scale murals, but also portable icons, more similar to paintings, which are available for sale to individuals.
Born in 1966 and raised in New York, Damianakis has lived in the Bay area for more than 15 years. He studied iconography techniques at several schools, including C.W. Post College of Fine Arts, Parsons School of Design, Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and Queens College. He perfected his techniques with studies with old world master artists in European private art studios and monasteries. His travels have taken him to Greece, Turkey, France, Yugoslavia and Italy to study the folk art of Byzantine iconography. He also apprenticed with three master iconographers in the U.S. before establishing his own studio in 1991.
For more information about Damianakis’ work, visit his website, www.orthodoxiconography.com.
The Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity is located at 3625 S.R. 580, Safety Harbor. Call 727-791-2273.
|
Front Page 
News 
