Holy Saturday

The Fourteenth Station of the Cross by John Giuliani

The Fourteenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is Buried
by Jyoti Sahi

"Jesus is buried, and like the sleeping Asana (Nidre asana) he becomes one with the earth. Beside him is the pot, which symbolizes the empty container of the body, from which the waters of life have been poured out. He is like the tree that is uprooted, falling onto the ground." – Jyoti Art Ashram

The Dead Christ in the Tree by Hector Jandany

"Another means of expressing the relationship between Christian and Indigenous religion is shown in the painting by Hector Jandany, who likewise lives in Warmun and has painted since 1979. That year saw the establishment of the Bough Shed School by two Catholic nuns, invited in by the community. Hector Jandany lived according to and in harmony with both religions. His painting shows the body of Jesus, which lies on a platform in a tree. The artist references thereby a traditional funeral ceremony in his area. Note that the painting does not involve Christian iconography. The artist is renowned for his subdued color-palette in mostly dark tones. The fact that half of the painting is filled with bright ochre helps to emphasize the bier with the figure in black, the black Christ. The painting carries the title “The Dead Christ in the Tree.” Hector Jandany painted this work of art for the Easter service, for which it was used in the church at Warmun for a number of years." – aboriginal-art.de

Native American Heritage Month: Jesus as Sun Dancer

Sundancer Christ by Fr. John Giuliani

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, I am reposting parts of an Easter-themed article by Rich Avery titled "Good Friday – Jesus the Greatest Sun Dancer."  The article (and the accompanying video by Pastor Larry Salway) offer an interesting contextualized view of Jesus and the Sun Dance, a ritual ceremony performed by Native American Plains Nations.  Avery writes:

Most Native North American people groups have a story of how their people were created, and this story has been passed down orally for hundreds or thousands of years. 

And many have a story of a Messiah-like figure who will sacrifice himself in order to deliver or bring greater enlightenment to their people. But few make the connection to Jesus Christ as both their Creator and Messiah. 

The Lakota, and other nations of the Plains, have a ritual called the Sun Dance, where men will punish or sacrifice themselves by piercing their body or tearing their flesh in order to hopefully bring about a closer connection to Creator – not only for themselves but for their entire community.

Artist's Frame in Visual Arts

While waiting for approval on a couple of posts I've already written, I thought I would briefly discuss a topic from the class module I taught in September at GIAL: in visual arts, the concept known as frame.

Frame is the purpose or intention of the artist in communicating a message in a visual artwork.  When using visual arts to communicate a message, frame becomes very important.  In order to interpret the message in a visual artwork correctly, the audience needs to understand the intention of the artist.  Otherwise, the message is likely to be misinterpreted or ignored completely by the audience.