Although raised in the Greek Orthodox Church with its rich visual imagery, it was a visit to Greece at sixteen when I developed a passion for Byzantine art. Later this led me to study Byzantine icon painting with Vladislav Andreyev at The School of Sacred Arts in New York City.

For these eight artworks I have chosen the triptych, both for its complex narrative possibilities and its esthetically pleasing symmetrical composition. In early Byzantine churches the triptych was a popular three-panel format for altar paintings, although my versions are secular.

Two elements influenced the structure of this cycle: the collage and the Greek chorus. The collage offered flexible manipulation of visual elements, and the Greek chorus provided a means for the collective voice of family or society to comment on the narratives.

In the original story cycle of the triptychs, I had planned to illustrate Hawthorn’s The Scarlet Letter. However, unforeseen problems with gathering reference elements forced me to reconsider the theme.

I decided to explore a more contemporary narrative that utilized psychotherapy in a free-associative communication between the artwork and viewer. Words or phrases in the triptychs function as mind-maps to recapture a viewer’s significant lost or buried memories. These recollections may be actual experiences or may be conflated in an out-of-sequence rhythm as in a surreal dream.

Upon hovering over an image, clicking View Larger will present a slide show of the artworks. For a fuller explanation of each triptych, click the More Details button.