KIROLLOS KILADA
AVLEEN KAUR
24min | English | Igal Hecht
24min | English | Igal Hecht
Kirollos "Kiro" Kilada is an iconographer and illustrator from Mississauga. His work focuses on visual metaphors and symbolic language, which is enhanced by his parallel practice as a Coptic OrthodoxIconographer. He draws on this complex artistic heritage in order to tell peculiar stories from history, current news, and everyday occurrences, sometimes endowing them with an uncanny mystique.
On Path to Creation, we follow Kiro painting icons in a Greek Orthodox Church in Oakville, Ontario. As an iconographer, Kiro spends a lot of time studying centuries old Coptic traditions, endeavoring to produce icons that are both authentic and speak to the contemporary viewer with a freshness of Spirit. His role as an iconographer is to make an image that invites people to prayer and suggests to them the beauty, goodness and truth of their Creator. His icons have been commissioned for churches and private collections in both the U.S. and Canada.
Avleen Kaur is an Indian painter based in Toronto, Ontario. Her visual poetry is inspired by the trials and tribulations of the human race, some of which she has experienced herself. Kaur’s art makes many references to her homeland to acknowledge the absurd and detrimental exploitation of power in society, both on a personal and structural level. In a similar way, she is just as passionate about translating love, comfort, faith, and relationships into her pieces.
Integrating her heritage into the accessories and clothing she creates, Kaur recently launched her own brand of handcrafted intricate leatherwear called GAHM. The line is named after her mother’s village of Budgam in Kashmir and its high-standard quality is meant to last a lifetime. On Path to Creation, Avleen shows us how art can be used to criticize or exemplify one’s culture.
