It began with ambition. Ambition is not something I have lacked but this was different. This was a need. So when the opportunity of the Master’s Degree programme arose I knew it was the correct time to pursue what had taken years to cultivate. I was ready to approach the artistic behemoth: tackling my vision of The New Testament. This would be a contemporary take and it would be based in a setting I am familiar with: Scotland.
I’m not quite sure if I chose my topic or if it chose me? I did know that it would change me irrevocably, and essentially that’s what I wanted. I wanted to change. I wanted to change the current way I worked. I wanted to change the way I had become. That is not to say I was an incapable artist and illustrator, but more I had become incapable of free-expression. I had gotten into a working way that had become too deliberated, too over-analysed, that transferred to my work in such-a-way that it made it contrived. It was also not to say I was a person that I didn’t particularly like or dislike, but it was not who I was supposed to be. If anything, illustrating portions of the Bible would have a two-fold effect: I could use it to change my working practices and my spiritual practices. And that is not to say that I was not of good-moral-fibre, but I had become so pious, so judgemental, almost Phariseeical, that I had to change.
So for the last three months I have been in a quiet and contemplative state. That is really no-different from my working practices of old mind! I have to approach this subject with reverence, be aware of the enormity of what I am trying to depict, but I have also to bear-in-mind that it is MY artistic vision. I believe a haphazard and ‘gung-ho’ attitude to illustrating would be disrespectful at this point here. Now I wasn’t expecting that the Holy Spirit himself would make-an-appearance and give me something of the divine, but I did have prior notions of what I thought would be acceptable: my depiction of Jesus Christ for instance. Surely this is the same dilemma encountered by every artist that has dared to portray The Messiah?
I initiated various quick sketches, something I didn’t particularly do in the past, to get an acceptable looking character for The Messiah. I specifically chose media like letraset marker, charcoal, chalks to break my habit of working primarily with graphite pencil, as I have a tendency then to busy myself with minute detail. I worked-off various photographs of suitable models/ actors etc until I felt right in his appearance. This process took longer than anticipated as my mind would begin to wander into which scenes my various depictions would work; I kept feeling I should start putting Him into the contexts of various passages etc but I wanted to be sure my Jesus was good enough to live-up to His reputation. One thing I was acutely aware of was that I wanted Him to be handsome, clean-cut, a vision of what “the word made flesh” should be. Now I am aware that within The Bible the Gospels state that there was nothing humanly that set Jesus apart, but I conceive that Jesus would have particular qualities that set him apart; he would be clean, he would not be pierced or tattooed, he would be dressed smartly and reverently, as He knew people would not approach him if He was not dressed thusly. On reading a quote attributed to acclaimed artist Salvador Dali in my research he stated [on his painting “Christ of St. John of the Cross”], “I want to paint a Christ that is a painting with more beauty and joy than have ever been painted been painted before. I want to paint a Christ that is the absolute opposite of Grünewald’s materialistic savagely anti-mystical one” (from The Unspeakable Confessions of Salvador Dali via ‘The Image of Christ: The Catalogue of the Exhibition Seeing Salvation’), and one I whole-heartedly agree with! My thoughts returned to a conversation I had with an agnostic acquaintance of mine, after I’d begun my course, who said that if Jesus were alive today he would be “a junkie”. I didn’t concur with his appraisal but I did agree that would be the types of person He would be drawn to, and them to him. It was well-documented that he would be in the company of ‘undesirables’, so all human life will certainly be represented.
As I stated in my opening paragraph this subject-matter has always been lurking-about in my subconscious, so I have arrived at this point with what I consider a clear vision. I have tailored my settings to be acceptable for the story of Jesus, with the village of West Kilbride and the surrounding areas a ready-made Galilee, the Firth of Clyde as the Sea of Galilee, Glasgow and it’s cityscapes as a larger conurbation like Jericho or where the famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’ may serve as an alternative on the Kingston Bridge perhaps, and outlying schemes like Sitehill a ready-made Sodom or Gomorrah? Is it still possible then to approach my topic with something of an open-mind? If I have already reached all the outcomes mentally, where does that give me space to explore the potential for other, possibly more effective visual outcomes? Well, having already been on-site in various locales, and having taken copious amounts of reference photographs, the new Holy Land has already been formulated in my mind’s eye.
I am currently of the mind that I am working towards fairly large-scale oil-paintings as final pieces; large canvases hung in galleries. By saying that I am not trying to limit what ‘happy accidents’ may come from any unexpected mediums, but rather that I want my finished work to have a certain gravitas, which I feel only comes from oils. Maybe I’ve been conditioned to think that way? From the years of poring-over the religious works of Rembrandt, or staring in-wonder at the technicality of Carravagio, maybe that has brought me to this conclusion? But is it the correct one though? Am I constricting myself, or placing a burden upon me before I’ve really begun? There have been excellent examples of Jesus’ depictions in galleries from unconventional materials: Nicholas Mynheer’s “Christ and St. Peter” for example, is beautifully realised in wood, or Graham Sutherland’s “Christ in Glory”, a tapestry hung in the fitting surroundings of Coventry Cathedral. It’s not that I am not au fait with experimenting with a variety of materials, as I am already planning to attempt painting on slate in the coming weeks. If a medium presents itself to be a superior substrate where I can convey my modern-interpretations, that I may yet be persuaded.
Throughout this process I have continued to read as much background material as I could muster, with The Good News Bible at the referencing epicentre. An invaluable resource has been John MacArthur’s “The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn From the Bold Confrontations of Christ”, Thomas Nelson, 2009. MacArthur has given me much food-for-thought in my Jesus depiction as the author questions if the Christ we currently know is actually the one portrayed in the Bible? He was most definitely confrontational as, for example, he made His mission very visible by tackling the Sadducees and the Pharisees (the council of the Sanhedrin) in the public-manner he did. For me, this has already thrown-up various ways in-which modern media may be incorporated into how my Christ can get coverage? Would the Sermon on the Mount be televised? Would there be police helicopters ‘whirring’ overhead to control the mass-rally? There is certainly scope there for developing and furthering that creative thread, which I will pursue once I begin final pieces. I have deliberately avoided perusing prior examples of artists’ interpretations of Christ as I didn’t want it to influence my own characterisation. It was only afterwards that I started to collate Christ images to suffice my interests in Pinterest and my blog site. Alternately, if I’d immersed myself in previous works of a similar nature then wouldn’t my creative output be that of someone else? I acknowledge that I’ve almost probably been influenced by practitioners before I’ve already arrived at my creative solution, by way of osmosis or other, but I am striving for originality. I am also aware that I wanted my final images to be figurative, for I want to be known as a figurative painter/ artist.
In my recent machinations I have come to the conclusion that I want to portray the human Christ as opposed to the divine Christ. I am certainly of the Modernist approach where there is a singular interpretation. Within the human aspect of Jesus I feel I can convey the struggle within all of us, allowing the viewer to empathise with, and for, the Man. An everyman.
* Reflection
It is only within the last few weeks that I can see my research coming-together; I had been storing-up information to blog instead of actually just submitting my ideas/ thoughts etc. I understand that is a major problem with ‘perfectionists’ as it accompanies procrastination: there is a fear of producing sub-standard work so very little gets done at all! I am definitely of the ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ camp, so need the dead-lines edging ever-closer to get motivated. I feel I lost my way a little, so my output isn’t prolific (it never was!) but I am spiritually in somewhat of a better place. My working environment is not quite as it should be yet, but that is maybe ‘cos I am still collating and jotting paperwork? I have re-stretched some canvases so once I have begun work on them I believe I will begin to see radical and inspiring results! It’s possible that I thought I’d arrived in the beginning of the term with a solidified idea and I’ve maybe stuck too-rigidly to my single vision? Maybe that might be considered true of my personal life too? When I said I wanted to change aspects of my life, like working practices and strengthening my faith etc, I meant that wholeheartedly. Everyday I strive to make a conscious change, no-matter how small, in an attempt to be the best person/ artist I can be. The jury’s still out on both counts mind!
joemckennawk 