Witness X

Exhibition | Witness X | 27 March - 24 April 2021| Atelier Studio Gallery | Nelson NZ |
This was a two-person exhibition with Tony Downing. I have named my body of work Witness X - Tony's work has no connection to this title.

Witness X - seven works.

Visual disorientations of the Christ and cross sits within symbolised elements of current culture, all fixed with bold colours and compartmentalised painterly crevices. These new works reflect my contemplations and experience of life and faith in the 21st century. 

We are all familiar with the phrase, “there is nothing new under the sun”, and then we see each era witness new moral norms and technologies that influence and transform how society functions. We are simultaneously saturated and seduced by the digital age with its scrolling screens, things to buy and endless sharing.

We live in a time-bound, digitised flux, while God the creator transcends all temporal constraints. He is the grounding influence,  while we/I experience new ideas, and the changes and challenges of this current age. 

The divine fundamentals remain the same - God is love, truth, and grace to those who believe. Joy and treachery are amplified in Christianity by the changes in popular culture and apathy towards embracing a faith of this kind. 

At times I feel like I am in ‘survival’ mode, fighting my way through worldly walls in order to find truth and maintain peace. 

Basic human survival needs are - food, water, air, shelter, safety, and sleep - but we all know there is so much more we need. For one, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’. Our spirits also need care and nurture.

I have ventured into the corners of my mind and considered my world and I am exploring that which disrupts and dilutes Christ's eternal verities.

Recalibration is simply about realigning ourselves to Christ. I chose to use the colour test pattern (an image from my youth). I am of the generation who has lived with and without the internet. Technology when I was growing up was fairly basic as was life… technology now can be really confusing and along with that, finding the truth can be confusing also. There is a lot of anxiety in the world today, there are a lot of people who are not wanting to be themselves… here the image of Jesus on the cross has taken on that idea of form changing, and here the form is a blur. Recalibrating requires a vision of a true impression or image. What are the images of God we hold and what holds us back, blurred with worldly distortion. What are the images we hold of ourselves and do they align to how God loves us? 

My intention was to present a pixelated cross - it’s figure unidentifiable, a blurred view. During the exhibition floor talks at Atelier, a teenager was present and he saw a minecraft skin - I loved that! The skin is a covering that other players in the minecraft game see you as.

There has been a movement in the art-world called ‘disrupted realism’ in response to our existence in this digital age. This cross represents a disrupted reality of the truth of the cross. If you really squint, you will see a painted version of the photo I took of my brother posed as Jesus on the cross. We crucify the savior over and over, yet his compassion still covers the worst places, even the darknet when repentance occurs (which seems impossible to imagine in that context). This blurred version is how we might initially see Christ, out of focus even hidden. Despite our view and the dark places, we sense we are home in his presence and safe.

Initially I wanted to fragment the cross. I loosely planned this work and began by laying imagery down and problem solving as to what the work needed, and as I added layers. I didn’t have an end defined in my mind and now find this piece curious, as the parts of the christ appear to be in compartmentalised boxes underneath the surface of the work. This was my reference to the title ‘innermost’. While our lives can be trainwrecks or in this instance car wrecks on the scrap-heap, Jesus carries that and offers hope (as a joyful balloon lifts up in the air) -  we recede into ourselves and  we draw near to him.  We can get so caught up in the flurry of life and cannot see the whole reality of our saviour who is there carrying us and holding us close.