The Hagia Sophia: The Last Crusade
One of the most indescriable things in the world, this relic is the crowning achievement that survives from the glory that was Byzantium. It is the only structure in the world that has served as the Mother Cathedral for the Orthodox Church, and the Imperial mosque of the Sunni Caliphate. The interior is often captured in pictures, or written at length about, but the presence it has is unmistakable.

 

From the approach of it's neighbor the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Camii) the view shows the church from it's side looming above the other ottoman tombs and fountains in the square. This print was adapted from my on-site sketches, last october. It remains a wonder of the world.

 

Unfortunately, within Turkey the extreme-rightest gears are grinding once more to reconvert it to a mosque, and they're leading the country. I hope it remains a museum, and stays out of religious-politics forever.
This Church has suffered enough.

 

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Linoleum- relief print 5/8
This was done at Home with a rolling pin and this is the pre-edition, somewhere between a practice in feeling out the pressure and an attempt to make get back into printing.

I also used a water soluable ink for the first time, and I'm happy with the results.
This is part of a larger project, with a second linocut in the works, with the eventual goal of an artist's book.

Linoleum Print on Paper

2013