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Restoration is My Sense of Saving Things

13 July 2010 / 10:07:00  GRReporter
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- Have you restored an almost broken icon?

- Everything can be restored. Of course, no object can be returned to its original form. But restoration is even to save an object in the state you find it.

- How an icon is being restored?

- When you get an icon in your hands, you treat it as a doctor treats a sick man. We first examine it to put the diagnosis. Restoration has two phases: the first is to show it in the best possible way, ie to distinguish the work of the painter. The second is to save the materials of which it is made, which means proper cleaning and restoration. An icon consists of a wooden part and usually has a coating cloth on which is the painted layer. Wood, as a material, is attacked by wood worms, fungi and moisture, and when not of good quality it can be bent, broken or clave. There may be mechanical damages. It might have fallen, for example, treaded on or have rusted nails, which made it cracked, etc. The next step is the primer. It was formerly made from powdered chalk mixed with glue of animal origin (glue made from boiled bones of fish or other animal) to stuck on the tree. Over time, however, it can be peeled off mostly due to the fact that in moisture conditions fungi appear to fret glue. As for the paint layer, paints were also powdered, made of stone layers – the so-called ohri - or the rust of various metals (copper, bronze, etc.). The paints were mixed with dilution of egg yolk to be able to stick on the ground. The problem here is the same as the aforementioned fungi. Furthermore, varnish of plant origin was used to preserve the icon. They used resin from coniferous trees, ink, etc. for the varnish. In the beginning, it was transparent but it oxidates over the time and gradually becomes yellow. Sometimes when the varnish is of poor quality and the applied layer is very thick it gets much darker, because smoke of candles, incense, and others glue on it. All this, along with dust and miscellaneous construction materials falling on the icons when temples are repaired, can contaminate the icon so much that the paint layer under the varnish can not be seen. Colours fade rarely. This happens only if the icon is exposed to direct light. Usually they are in good condition. To summarize, the restoration processes occur in the following order: we always start with the timber. We remove wooden nails if necessary, use chemicals to remove tree worms, and if the tree is split, attach it. If the wood is rotten we fill with acrylic resin using syringe, thus making the tree much more stable. Then turn the icon and attach primer to the wood. We use syringe with an acrylic adhesive again and place weights on it to press it. Then we clean with a scalpel all unnecessary objects (candles, plaster, paint, etc..). We make samples until we find a suitable solvent to remove the old varnish. This is done very carefully with a scalpel and small pads. We always leave a very thin layer of varnish on the painting as we do not want to lose even the smallest details, which the painter of the icon drew. Then we see the real painting which we review to see if there's anything lost. If necessary, we supplement the paint layer, but only in places where this is absolutely necessary to be able to distinguish the original icon. The colours we use are always more pale in comparison with the initial ones. In this way everyone can see the old and the new painting on the icon. This process is called aesthetic recovery and it is applied only where strictly necessary.

- What do you usually do when major details of the paint layer are missing?

- When a head or arm is missing, we do not paint them again. We only intervene to show the original icon. And here is a moral dilemma. Worship icons sometimes need a little more work, because these icons are not museum exhibits as they are placed in temples and people worship them. Of course, we prefer not to do it. You should not intervene, but this depends on how we look at a work of art. This issue have been discussed at many conferences and we are still not sure what is most appropriate. And this is because the icons follow their path in time. There are icons that were renovated 3-4 times. Then we face the dilemma to decide what to remove, what to leave, in what state to restore the icon. For example, if an icon painted in 1500 has a hole made by a firearm in 1600, should we close this hole? Because it is part of the history of the icon too. My personal opinion is that we should not stop time, we should show the way of the artwork. My philosophy is to intervene aesthetics at the least possible, to honour the icon and the time which has passed over it. I care much more to remove the factors that threaten it. However, when clients insist, we intervene, but the materials we use can easily be removed even after several years so that we can always return to the original icon.

Tags: Icon restorationArtsInterview
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