ISABEL PICZEK was an important Los Angeles artist. Many of her works are in public places, such as the exceptionally beautiful mosaic at the CatholicCemeteryin the Mission San Fernando, which was done in 1961. But she is best known for her study of the Shroud of Turin. Her sister, Edith Piczek, was also a noted religious artist. Isabel was still a young student when she began to visualize the possibilities of a new sacred art form - a new liturgical vision.
Over the years, Isabel and Edith described their “aesthetic partnership” in terms of a “mystical realism” which they looked upon as part of the modern visual and spiritual revolution in ecclesial art. The unassuming sisters saw their vocation as a “cultural and religious mission.” Their partnership blossomed and matured through the years. Edith was a frequent collaborator and Isabel’s lifetime companion until her death in 2012.
Isabel, born in 1927, and her sister were born in Hungary, where their father was a noted artist and art professor. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. Just after the end of World War II, Isabel and her sister fled the Communist regime in Hungary and escaped across the border into Austria. It was a difficult and often dangerous journey but they soon found their way to freedom. After a brief stay in Vienna, they literally “painted” their way across Europe, traveling from one monastery to another, enduring struggles and challenges along the journey. At one point they wandered in the snow of the Alps for three days until finally finding their way across the Italian border. They continued on to Rome which would become their home for the next three years.By 1955 they were in Canada and shortly after arrived in Los Angelesto pursue their combined talents. They soon established their Studio, the ConstructionArtCenter, in EchoParkclose to downtown Los Angeles. It is here that Isabel continued to live and create art for over 50 years. Her body of work is nothing short of astonishing and includes colossal size murals, mosaics, paintings, stained glass windows and tile works for over 400 buildings, churches and cathedrals in seven countries and on three continents.
In Las Vegas, Edith designed the 2,000 square-foot mosaic on the façade of Guardian Angel Cathedral that illustrated the roles of the Guardian Angel.
Isabel created the Stained glass windows that portray the Stations of the Cross for the same church. The two also collaborated on mosaics and the windows for Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, California and artwork in St Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno, Nevada.Isabel created a 300 square foot figurative stained glass entrance for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
In 1992, Isabel, along with her sister Edith, was honored by Pope St. John Paul II in recognition of her prolific artistic achievements, examples of which can be found in nearly 500 different cathedrals, churches and other buildings across the world.
She became one of only 70 Knights and Dames throughout the world to hold the title Dame of Saint Gregory when she was admitted into the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
In addition to being a world class artist, she also became an internationally known Physicist. Isabel died on September 29, 2016 at the age of 88.
Images:
Jesus Meets His Mother - St. Bonaventure Church, Huntington Beach, CA
Woman Clothed with the Sun- St Norbert Church, Orange, CA
Jesus the Divine Healer- Heart of Jesus Retreat Center, Santa Ana, CA
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