Postmodern Jesus

My artwork engages in the figure of Jesus, restoring Him to a position of presence in the cultural experience now developing in the Middle East and the entire world. I use the Hebrew letters as part of my oeuvre, the same letters that Jesus apparently used in His daily life.
My painting installation portrays Jesus alongside of Mary on large-scale canvases using rich, multilayered and multicolored, expressive materiality, with golden letters emanating from an open prayer book made of aged wood, nails and bamboo. Icons of Jesus and Mary are installed above the book, descending to a sand-covered floor.
Sand bears the association to the biblical verse “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” In like manner, Jesus was laid to rest in the dust, but is actually above the dust. His essence lives on, which has deep meaning.
The space formed between the elements of the painting installation is a three-dimensional space enabling viewers to address and experience a single large-scale work. It is comprised of an image of the birth of Jesus and an image of the death of Jesus, which together with the book diptych form a new Gospel. Together the three works create a sacred triangle.
In the New Testament verse emanating from the book, Jesus states, “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:26). We can read this message not only as a call to listen to what art is saying in the physical sense but to strive to be attentive to spiritual messages. Whoever fails to listen is like a person building a house on quicksand, an unstable house likely to break down. Art exists and will remain forever. Creative expression continues to resonate.