Michael Mirianashvili and Different Uses of Portrait Painting

Michael Mirianashvili and Different Uses of Portrait Painting

The artist’s hand is capable of the most unbelievable wonders that one can’t even imagine. A lack of limits and a strong desire to create can transform a person into a multi-skilled and enthusiastic experimenter who gives new meaning or even redefines the ways art is made. Today, we want to talk about the person whose passion for portrait painting allows him to use his knowledge in the most surprising ways. Michael Mirianashvili is an artist specializing in religious iconography and portraits. Let’s see how these two aesthetic forces coexist in his contemporary art.

Michael Mirianashvili and Different Uses of Portrait Painting

Michael Mirianashvili is a Tbilisi-based 36-year-old artist who made his first steps in art at the age of six. He entered an art school and spent ten years studying graphics. After finishing it, the young painter continued his education at the university in the Faculty of Economics. While portrait painting was always Michael’s inspiration, he had a chance to discover its flexibility and multipurposeness in his third year of university. Then, he went to a church and became a parish member. At the time, the temple interiors were being painted by the artist whom Michael Mirianashvili helped with frescoes. The knowledge he acquired at school was still fresh to put to good use. That’s how he opened the world of iconography.

Michael Mirianashvili and the Different Uses of Portrait Painting

As it turned out, iconography and portrait painting had some key similarities, especially when it came to faces. Historically, icon painters paid a lot of attention to the depiction of faces. Symmetry, expression, symbolism – all these parameters are essential parts of the icon painting traditions. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to create a holy image, following all the rules so that it looks canonical.

Michael Mirianashvili and the Different Uses of Portrait Painting

Whether it is icon or portrait painting, Michael Mirianashvili creates his works with sheer enthusiasm and eagerness. Right now, the artist sells icons of St. Nicholas and doesn’t stop looking for clients to offer his special services. The artist also likes creating exact copies of the icons, so one can hire Michael to paint works of any configuration and complexity. If you want to learn more about the painter or plan to establish cooperation, you should visit his Facebook page where he shares more of his art.

Photo courtesy of Michael Mirianashvili