About me

Małgorzata Pleśniak
Ikony pisane - Małgorzata Pleśniak
There comes a moment in life when we suddenly realise that every person we have met, everything that has happened to us and every path we have crossed had its purpose. They led us to the place in which we are now because it could not have been another way.

In a small village at the Carpathian foothills, far away from big city lights, in a remote place surrounded by nature my first works came to life. They were mainly abstract oil paintings and stained glass. This form of expression, no matter how much fun it was, did not always work for me.

My first encounter with the icon surprised me a lot. Travelling to the opposite end of Poland I wondered what can be so exceptional in copying a painting. Returning home I already knew that I unexpectedly entered the path of the deepest spiritual experience, and the icon would become a very important tool in my life.

Gold
Only real
Gold is not considered a colour on the icon but a symbol of the pristine, brightest light, inaccessible to humans. Therefore it is so important to me that I use real gold and not its imitation.
Egg yolk tempera
Resistant to time
The egg tempera technique (i.e. mixing egg yolks with white wine and natural powdered pigments) is one of the oldest painting techniques. Such prepared icons do not fade and are exceptionally durable.
Icon writing
Painting or writing?
The popular phrase “icon writing” highlights the sacred, liturgical character of the icon and means the process of its creation. The scholars however attribute its origin to the incorrect translation from Greek and Russian, where the same verb is used for writing and painting.

Icon writing

Writing an icon is like looking deep into our own eyes

Escaping from what we see is the easy way out. The tricky part is to remain there and accept it. And when you accept it, the next step is to experience the presence of the Absolute.

An icon, however, is not just an encounter. It is also a great teacher. After many hours spent working on an icon we come back to reality and want to retain the same patience in everyday life, which we had when we waited for the levkas to dry. We want to be as delicate and tender as when we were drawing the sketch on the prepared panel. As bright as the particles of gold. As pure as the colours we applied. As sure and decisive as strokes of the brush which must be precise and intended. As quiet as we were at the time when we had the feeling we were touching our soul. We want to live in such a way that we can preserve the order and be the observer and participant of “becoming”. Becoming as a process, as a change. We never begin the work on another icon being the same as before. Every icon is the whole new story.

Each icon is a different story and another moment in our life. We cannot judge someone’s sensitivity and internal struggle. An icon is an exploration, a process and a journey. It’s a dialogue. Every work is a tremendous lesson. Each of them discovers something new and makes us realise something else. It is an exceptional adventure full of surprises, as we never know what we are going to experience when we start writing an icon.

Ikony pisane - Małgorzata Pleśniak

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ICON WRITING WORKSHOP

ICON WRITING WORKSHOP

January 2017

Mandylion, Supraśl (Grzegorz Prokopiuk)

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May 2017

Pantocrator, Budy Gł. (br Siergiej Gubicki)

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August 2017

Mandylion Sędziszów Młp. (br Siergiej Gubicki)

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October 2017

Gilding workshop, Klęczany (br Siergiej Gubicki)

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December 2017

Mother of God Eleusa, Sędziszów Młp. (Ekaterina i Anton Daineko)

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January-May 2018

Christ in Majesty, Warszawa 'Droga ikony' (Joanna Zabagło)

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July 2018

Mother of God from a Deesis, Sędziszów Młp (br Siergiej Gubicki)

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August 2018

Mother of God Eleusa, Użhorod (br Siergiej Gubicki)

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February 2019

St. Tatiana, Sędziszów Młp. (Anthony Gunin)

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August 2019

Pantocrator, Budy Gł., Dorota Żak

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September 2019

Archangel Gabriel, Czarna Sędziszowska, (Anton Daineko)

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September 2019

Gilding workshop, Kraków, (br Siergiej Gubicki)

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November 2019

Mother of God (an excerpt of Annunciation), Czarna Sędz., (Dorota Żak)

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January 2020

Pantocrator, Czarna Sędz., (Anthony Gunin)

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On the way...