Stations Of The Cross (IX) : 'He Foresaw His Own Death' Painting

In the ninth in my series of 'Stations Of The Cross' we see Christ as a small, boy-like figure in the foreground of a desert scene (he is still in The Wilderness), whilst a large vision of his mother, weeping, appears in the sky above and before him. Her radiance and the shock of this vision causes him to bring his hand to his face to protect his eyes from the intense light. The sheer size of her image is redolent of a cinema screen projection - a religious drive-in, if you will. She weeps for her son who has been killed by crucifixion. This then is a vision from Christ's future - a future over which he has no control, and which he must witness here with a sense of impotence - he cannot and will not be able to console his own mother. The sources of the image are various. Having seen the luridly-painted, exquisitely-carved sculptures of 'Madre de Dios' in Catholic churches in Spain (with their resin tears rolling in abundance down their often rosy cheeks, their heads crooked to one side in grief and resignation - despite their rich attire and signs of wealth!), I was impressed by both the theatricality and the focus on the two characters of Christ and his mother. At the core of this relationship is heightened pain and grief, which I think these Spanish figures of Christ and his mourning mother carry off very well. One other source of the image I have painted I realised only as I was creating it. This is Woody Allen's incisive comedy 'Oedipus Wrecks' - in which a small neurotic, middle-aged man (of course!) who is overly-attached to and dominated by a demanding mother - inadvertently 'loses' her when she is 'volunteered' to be the subject in a disappearing act at a magic show they are attending. At first the little man is distraught and filled with guilt - she even 'appears' to him as a massive image in the sky (like in my painting) to scold and reprimand him for being so careless as to lose her and continues to interfere with his life! However as the film progresses he begins to realise that now she is 'gone' he is in fact free to live his life without guilt or fear of reprimand 'from above'. Although these sources are both humorous and theatrical, the core of this painting is about the powerful relationship between a son and his mother, as well as about the knowledge of one's own mortality. Both are universal subjects, reflected here in the use of christian iconography. This work is currently not for sale, but once the series is complete the works will be available for purchase.

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:11.8 W x 11.8 H x 2 D in

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