‘Cipher Maria’ is one of the earlier encaustic works. These three paintings are inspired by the idea that old traditions need to cloak themselves to survive. In these works, I created a cipher of the ancient Greek version of ‘Parthenos Maria’; Παρθένος Μαρία. Parthenos Maria translates into Virgin Mary.
The picture of Maria with Jesus I took from our local church, the Pyhän Ristin kirkko in Hattula. Parts of this photograph were transferred onto the encaustic layer and further processed.