Mosaic

I had the pleasure of attending an event at St Johns Cathedral in West Adams. I’m a little tired of this meme: great Churches are only in Europe, nothing of consequence is here, especially not in cultureless Los Angeles.

People who say this never explore their own city, that is their own loss.

I love mosaic, I have mentioned that I need to get back to making my own. This is clearly an inspiration to do so. I mentioned to somebody how these exuberant mosaics remind me of Ravena Italy – huh? was the response.

These follow the ancient tradition but were only created in the late 60’s. I love it when an ancient art tradition continues and thrives through the ages. My photography here isn’t very good, but this chapel shines with gold. It is interesting to note that in early Christianity Jesus was often shown as a shepard, that image would fade with the many changes in European Christianity.  But some old symbols will always find their way back.

An aspect of mosaics that intrigues me is the angles and the movement of the tesserae.  This is the hardest thing to achieve. The shadows help give a three-dimensional feeling, but it is figuring out how to lay down the tesserae to add to the sense of a live figure, not just a flat image.

Another thing that has always grabbed my attention, is the ability to create natural skin tones while creating the human body, especially the face.

 In all the mosaic work that I have done, I have never tackled a person yet. Not sure if I ever will.

This is more along the lines of what I have done. Except I haven’t included other materials. In this Cathedral, it is wonderful to see the combination of mosaic and marble.

That is a whole new level of working with these materials.

Oh look! Quilt patterns! But of course, it’s not only quilts that rely on basic geometric designs. It is interesting to see how different materials have a very different affect with the exact same design element.  Here I am admiring the use of stone and glass tesserae, surrounded by two very different slabs of marble.

Initially I was drawn to the medallion designs, but then my eyes moved to the right and I find myself trying to figure out, how by using the same tesserae, they have created a border and then a background that look very different. The background has gold and more blue. Ah the subtulties of the material!

The sun burst on the ceiling, gold tesserat imbedded in the painted concrete, so effective.

Jewish synagogues use very little imagery. Maybe some stain-glass or the Textile that covers the ark. Protestant Churches are the same – rather plain rooms. So I enjoy a Church like this, full of color, light and decoration. I love how the light is flowing in over the cross to the exuberant ceiling above.

It isn’t my tradition, I don’t feel the need for this in my relgious life, but I love to be able to come, visit and admire these places of worship.