Deposition V: I Know You Think I Am Someone You Can Trust
acrylic, wood, gunpowder, gold leaf _78″x 60″x 28″
The final piece (as far as I can tell) in the Deposition series. This series of pieces was inspired by one painting in the Dallas Museum of Art collection made by the academic realist William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905).
While there are several aspects of the work I could talk about the most notable is the contrast between Mary and Jesus, with Mary looking dark, hooded, and truly pained, rather than beatific in her grace. Expanding this into a ying/yang principle of intertwined white/black the work lends both individuals a fractured, interdependent form whereupon Mary’s black shape becomes more solid and expansive in her pain as Jesus’s white limp form becomes more ephemeral in his death.
Deposition I || Deposition II || Deposition III || Deposition IV
In this piece, specifically, I was thinking of the Mary form as a solid, protective wall, an armour of sorts. It is a simple thing to consider the back a painfully protective “interior,” or scarred psychological space, contrasting with the “face” by offering fragmented pieces on a spindly structure, gunpowder burns, and gold leaf. (FYI: After staring at it awhile it becomes a kind of ominous Darth Vader or Sith Lord.)
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And for those who have stuck with me through this and care about all the lengthy titles in this series: They are derived from Brand New‘s song Jesus Christ. I saw this band in Dallas back in maybe 2004 or 2005 with my buddy John Frost. Anyway, I still listen to them quite often.
Ryder in Roswell 