In 2003 I painted the Stations of the Cross (fourteen events surrounding the Crucifixion from Jesus before Pilate to the tomb) as individual, 16” x 20” panels.  As part of an arts event at a local Presbyterian church, I conceived of the idea of including each of these narratives in one large painting.  I began by sketching out the composition in oil sticks in front of the congregation after coffee hour.  I brought the unfinished canvas home where I stretched it and hit a conceptual road block for some time.  I was dissatisfied with the fracturing of the picture.  I had a strong desire to distill all the events into a singular, poignant spiritual experience. 

It took a year of working with more minimal forms, including circles, squares, and golden rings in other paintings to arrive at a solution.  I thought of the graphic, symbolic, and emblematic qualities of flags, which suited the long, horizontal format. 

The halo and the crown of thorns are superimposed: the thorns as the center most circle, radiating outward past the halo to also serve as rays.  The dense blackness and the glowing, circular yellow are cosmic.  The stripes to the right are symbolic of the parts of the narrative: red = pain and bloodshed of the Crucifixion, dark green = hope of the promise of salvation, light green = the process of the Resurrection, white = Heaven/life with God.  The red stripe is narrow to reflect the significant, but relatively short time of suffering in comparison with eternity.  The white stripe is pressed to the far right edge of the canvas, a sliver which is almost out of sight yet suggestive of continuation.  The blackness of the cosmos on the left also seems infinite. 

The linear reading of the panel is influenced by western reading of the page from left to right.  The brushwork in black is active, matching the flux in space and the natural world, while the stripes are flat and luminous, more about light and pure existence, timelessness.

  I would like to donate the piece to a church with adequate facilities to permanently display it and to support its conservation.  Interested parties should please contact me.

Community:  St Luke's Episcopal Church, Brockport, New York
Email:  maynardn@frontiernet.net