Evija Rudzite

I have been an icon painter for 20 years. Painting icons has become my life and an inner necessity, my calling. 

I  studied iconography at the Latvian (now European) Christian Academy. The icon attracted me with its message of the spiritual and transcendent.  It was the language in which it was possible to speak and think about faith, the Church and God.   

Since 2012, as a member of the Latvian Society of Iconographers, I have organised and participated in more than 30 exhibitions in various Latvian cities, also in Sweden and Belgium in churches, museums and exhibition spaces.

I have  always painted what has spoken to me, inspired me, influenced me, what seemed to me at the time to be the most accurate affirmation  of my faith.   In recent years I have been fascinated by the frescoes in the churches of Cappadocia and Georgia, especially in the Svaneti region, Romanesque art, especially sculptures in church architecture. In them, I see authenticity and transcendence, an outward simplicity even  naivety, at the same time a deep, powerful inner spirituality, true God. 

Although iconography is a canonical art and a tradition of the Church, I have a great interest in how creatively it has developed and evolved through the ages, especially in how contemporary artists affirm their faith through their works of art. And, of course, how it has interacted with contemporary art throughout the ages. 

I paint my icons in the traditional icon painting technique -  on wood overlaid with gesso, in egg  tempera technique-mixing dry pigments with egg yolk. For gilding I use real gold. Icons are made in a time-consuming and patient process by applying layers of color, layer by layer, saturating color tones and illuminating them. In that way the characteristic principle of iconography is realized - the saint is not illuminated by light, but itself emits light.  A finished work is impregnated with pernica and covered with varnish.

Discover contemporary artworks by Evija Rudzite, browse recent artworks and buy online. Categories: contemporary latvian artists. Artistic domains: Painting. Account type: Artist , member since 2025 (Country of origin Latvia). Buy Evija Rudzite's latest works on ArtMajeur: Discover great art by contemporary artist Evija Rudzite. Browse artworks, buy original art or high end prints.

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