watercolor, graphite, oil pastel, beeswax, gold leaf on flax paper

2024

from a tama in the form of a ship.

a tama is a type of votive offering in the Greek Orthodox church, usually flat and hung in front of an icon in the hopes that the offering will grant the desired outcome of the prayer. i’ve long been fascinated with ship tamata (pl.) and specifically sought the one that inspired these little pieces when i visited the Benaki Museum in Athens three years ago. several ship shaped tamata are famously known in the Church of the Evangelistra, the large church on Tinos (my paternal island) - which is a major orthodox pilgrimage site and also carries much symbolic history with the modern state of Greece itself.