Moscow, June 22, 2017
Photo: crimea-eparhia.ru On June 18, with the blessing of Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea and by the patronage of the dean of the Alushtinsky district Archrpriest Sergei Slobodyanyuk, an exhibition of unique icons entitled “Holy Linen” opened in the local church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, reports the Simferopol and Crimean Eparchy. The artist, Vladimir Denschikov, is perhaps the only man in the world who creates icons out of linen thread.
The exhibition includes twenty of Denschikov’s works, including the Holy Trinity, St. Alexander Nevsky, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and St. Olga, and each icon is a unique instance of its image. The author of the icons, the People’s Artist of Ukraine, Honored Worker of the Arts of Crimea, honorary academician of the Crimean Academy of Sciences, and professor, Vladimir Denschikov is also the founder of a new type of iconography.
Simply by his hands, without the use of any technical means, he has created hundreds of unique icons. Denschikov has been working with this technique of netting-macramé-collage for over 30 years. All that is seen on the icons—the details of the pattern on the rizas and the saints’ clothing—is created entirely from linen thread. Every knot is tied by hand, and imbued with warmth and love by the master himself. The material for the icons is also not accidental, according to Denschikov. For him, linen, being the most simple, clean, affordance, and durable material, is associated with Orthodoxy.
Photo: crimea-eparhia.ru All of his icons are made according to Church canons and blessed by the Church. Before working on his creations, he fasts, prays, and receives Holy Communion. His work has the blessing of Met. Lazar, as well as that of his personal spiritual father.
Depending on the size, one icon can take from several months to several years to make, but the time-consuming work brings the artist a special joy. Four of his icons have been gifted to St. Nicholas Church, and in July 2010 his Tenderness Icon was given to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, and in May 2011, a St. Vladimir Icon to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev.
Having suffered multiple strokes, Deschikov’s wife Natalia now helps him with his iconography. His unique work is known internationally, having been included in exhibitions in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Samara, Tula, Simferopol, Yalta, Hungary, Austria, and Germany.
The current “Holy Linen” exhibition runs until October.
