I found a great explanation for this at a website of an artist I stumbled across today...
"God did not forbid art, he forbade people to take art for something more than it is. The proof for that is that God himself told Moses to instruct Bezaleel to whom He gave artistic talent (Exodus 35:31-35; 36:1) to make, among other things, the Arc of the Covenant with two Cherubim on top of it. So making carved or painted images is not forbidden in itself - taking the made images to be deities is forbidden. The problem with the golden calf was not that people made it (that part is just art) but that they started worshipping it instead of the one God.
The orthodox explanation of bowing to and kissing icons is that "the honor given to the image is transferred to its prototype" (St. Basil the Great). The best example of that is this one - it is quite common that people will kiss a photograph of their loved ones when they miss them (grandmas so often do that with pictures of their grandchildren) and yet it is clear that they're not really kissing the photograph but the person in the photograph. Likewise, when a person is praying in front of an icon of Christ they are not praying to the physical object with Christ's face on it but to the Christ Himself, the physical object is there only to give them a point of focus. We as humans simply have the need to perceive things with our senses, it's the way we are created. An ancient Greek praying in front of the statue of Zeus in Athens wasn't retarded - he knew he wasn't really praying to the big block of stone in front of him but to Zeus himself, but the big block of stone was a convenient way to focus his attention. His paganism wasn't defined by praying in front of the statue, but by praying to a made up deity."
By the way, if you want to see what a master woodworker can do with some rudimentary tools and a hunk of walnut, jump on over to carvingart.com
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Taking in the subject of liturgical art for a second, I have a little something to share. For about four years I was a glassblower by trade. I was young, dumb and didn't know how to branch out into what I wanted to do with it. But deep inside, I have these skills somewhere. Maybe one day when I retire (or find a financial benefactor),I'll take it up again and make glass liturgical art. I always wanted to make lampadas (oil lamps) and glass kombuskinis (prayer ropes). You know, if I knew a good woodcarver, creating chandeliers and horos (big Greek chandeliers for cathedrals) would he interesting.... But I digress!
Liturgical art in North America is just now beginning to take some shape, and as it does, it will become a new style eventually. A style which will be influenced by Native Alaskans, Greek and Russian emigrants, Byzantine form and the elemental mediums native to this continent. I am hopeful that as our parishes expand and as our future generations grow in the life of the church, that we will see not only new styles of woodcarving but also iconography, rubrics, music, linens, tapestries and vestments... The list goes on and on! Exciting, isn't it? Christian art adapts and evolves regionally and culturally, immersing the culture in the wisdom and knowledge of God and coming forth in new and beautiful expressions over time. What was once Greek, with missionaries like Sts. Cyril and Methodius, became Slavic. What was once Alexandrian, became Ethiopian.
Here in this New World, we are witnessing the beginning of a new Orthodox Christian expression in all its forms. So far it looks almost too similar to the more ancient forms but as we teach younger generations about the faith and they cultivate the faith in their hearts, those that feel the need to express it through creative process will inevitably be a part of the overall development of this new and uniquely North American Christian culture and I feel truly blessed to see this happening.
May God be glorified!
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