OrceNineski introduces his new painting series titled “Boards,” created over the past few years. His inspiration comes from his role as a fresco painting curator at the Museum of Macedonia, where he closely observed the intricate process of icon conservation, both at the museum and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments.

What captivated him most was the visual and sensory impact of the preparatory procedures. Icons, partially covered with various canvases and foils, would be laid out, seemingly helpless, on the conservation tables. Over these surfaces, arranged with meticulous order, there was an array of boxes and cans filled with chemicals, varnishes, paints, shellacs, and chalks. Lenses, squeegees, brushes, rivets, nails, and other essential tools were all carefully placed, serving in silence, as conservators with extraordinary attention, delicately removed newer layers of paint to reveal the oldest, most authenticlayer of the icon, which is supposed to be the most valuable.