ARTIST STATEMENT

When I first learned about Freemasonry I had the usual experience - I felt as though I stepped through the looking glass into another world, rich with alternate history and mysterious ritual.  A few years ago I spent some time researching a college paper on Masonic symbolism at the library of the Grand Lodge of New York.  There I read about the thirteen colonies, each with a different set of laws, languages, and currencies, with little in common except for the strong civic leadership based in the many lodges that proliferated throughout the land.  When the Founding Fathers needed to find a common identity for the fledgling republic they turned to the visual language of the fraternity many of them had belonged to.  I was impressed by this story and delighted by the idea that for every official portrait of a famous politician there was another portrait loaded with hidden meaning and reference to ancient mystery.  The pictures I found captivating were not only those depicting famous Masons. Ordinary men with strange beards and mustaches, wearing jewels and aprons, posed for photographs that I found haunting and fascinating.  I became very interested in the imagery of Freemasonry and its many branches and offshoots and I recently decided to create a body of drawings based on these old lodge portraits.

My goal is to one day exhibit these works at a lodge and offer the fraternity my services as an artist.   Thanks for everything!

 Artist Biography

Born in 1982 in Kiev, Ukraine, Boris Rasin immigrated to the United States in 1991.  He has exhibited his sculptures, paintings and drawings in numerous group shows and since 2003 has collaborated on a number of sculptures, installations, and public art projects with fellow artist, Kenny Komer.   Boris Rasin received his BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art ('05).   He lives and works in New York City.

For more information, please visit www.borisrasin.com   To contact Boris Rasin to use his services: Boris.rasin@gmail.com and 917-657-2746