Legendary Icons by a Celebrated Master
TESTIMONIALS
“Ptahmassu's icons move beyond the old, traditional consideration of icons as holy receptacles for deity (which they most certainly are) to a new art form that characterizes our age of transition from monotheist monopoly to the return of the old gods.
These gods, very much alive in his icons, shine through to us in a way that only a master artist's hand could propagate. I don't know that I would have been to reach the gods in my own work successfully without noticing the work of Ptahmassu first. I have beheld his work in person and it is truly magnificent and bridges the world of the divine via art."
“Ptahmassu Nofra-Uaa’s icons, though indeed they are artworks of dazzling beauty, need to be understood first and foremost as inseparable components of a living, polytheist ritual practice securely rooted in an Egyptian tradition some five thousand years old, although it was sundered forcibly some 1,500 years ago. As such, Ptahmassu’s icons attest to the possibility and the power of polytheist revival, not solely in the case of Egyptian polytheism, but all of the sundered polytheist traditions from around the world, especially inasmuch as the practice of traditional Egyptian icon crafting is so demanding on every level.
In this respect, Ptahmassu is an inspiration for everyone trying to revive a sundered polytheist tradition, or to renew some element of a surviving continuous tradition. Ptahmassu’s practice turns the tables on our conventional conception of a passive object of the aesthetic gaze—the empowered and activated icon gazes upon us with the full cosmogonic power of the God (Netjer in Egyptian). The rituals governing the materials, creation and activation of the icon establish it as a doorway for the God, creating a space in our mundane reality for the eternal process of creation, in which every moment is zep tepi, Egyptian for the first time or instance, the beginning of the universe."
“Ptahmassu's art is special among that being produced in the modern Kemetic arena. He produces the pieces from a true devotional perspective and uses materials and precious ingredients the ancients used in his work. His vision is both individually unique and grounded in the ancient forms both visually and textually. It seems so much of the available devotional Kemetic art and icons 'do not get the glyphs right'. Ptahmassu does. This gives them both emotional and ritual power in my opinion. The piece I own is a version of the Hearing Ear stelae often found in Egyptian contexts. These icons were (and are) attuned to individual devotion, not State Religion, and the choice is an excellent one for modern Kemetic practice. As a devotee for Ptah, I love that I can approach him through this special piece."
“The moment I saw Ptahmassu’s work, I knew I was experiencing something special. Even through the mediation of domesticated photons traveling thousands of miles through the weft of digital infrastructure, his iconography stands bold, imbued with sacred power. Precious few are called to do the work that he does, but I thank the Gods that he does it! He understands that his duty is not to innovate, but to transmit messages, fleeting, mortal glimpses of the divine that serve to not just inspire awe in the most ancient sense, but to house and enshrine the Gods Themselves; and he does so with a clarity of purpose and technique rarely seen anywhere in the art world.
To say that he has inspired and challenged me in my own artistic spirit work is an understatement, and my own projects would not be what they are without having met such a talented and dedicated craftsman.
Ptahmassu is unrelenting, and we are made all the richer from it.”