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2011 lent collage 6: forsaken

as you probably know by now, i've been collaging my way through lent, using my hobbie as a way to practice spiritual discipline.  each week i have taken the text from worship on the coming sunday, and written it out by hand, struggled with it, played with it, and percolated it in my brain and heart.  i've wrestled with words, been overwhelmed with emotion, and cried more than once.  it has been a very good experience for me to express my interaction with and response to these ancient texts with something other than words.  i hope you've been enjoying it as well.

this week we were dealing with the crucifixion.  not my favorite portion of scripture, to be sure, but one that i think merits our careful attention, as well as our broken hearts.  as i read it through many times and prayed over it, i was struck by how mark's version uses the words "hurled" and "heaped" in reference to the insults and mockery being sent Jesus' way by onlookers.  i had this image of of Jesus just being covered by heaps of hatred, vicious and venomous piles of sin.  and then, for my whole life, i have never been able to be unmoved by the passionate, lonely and mysterious cry of Jesus, "why have you forsaken me?"  it is a call that echoes across the centuries and haunts me.  and so in my collage i tried to capture some of what felt like heaping piles of mockery and insult and the isolation that Christ felt.  it was an interesting topic to address because it seems like every artist has already dealt with the topic, and all of them have handled much more adeptly than i ever could.  so it was a humbling experience, not to mention very spiritually moving. 

i am praying that all of you, my dear readers, have a very rich holy week. 

"lent 2011: forsaken"
mixed media (acrylic paint, paper, crumbled crayon, masking tape) on canvas
april 2011
gregory a. milinovich


and here are some closer shots of the details:



Comments

julie said…
LOVE THIS.
Emoly said…
what did you use for the cross? I love how pure white it appears to be (on the computer screen). I also feel the weight of the words through the "piles" and "heaps" at the bottom of the collage.

Do you have plans for the entire series??
greg milinovich said…
thanks to both of you. glad you appreciated it.

em, the cross is actually nothing. it is just the absence of darkness. i didn't make it with anything.

as for the whole series, i didn't have any particular plans. i don't really "rate" enough as an artist to have a showing anywhere, so when i have a whole series like this the only thing i can do is share it with you all through the blog, and free the images out into the digital wilderness, where they can be copied and pasted and God knows what else. basically, i'm just not at a point where i make plans for my collages. ;). if you have some ideas, let me know. if they involve trying to pimp my art to galleries and such, i'm just not that into it.
Greg C. said…
Don't sell yourself short - you're as adept as most artists. I'm continuously impressed and enlightened by your interpretations and how you translate those interpretations into your art. On Sunday, the pastor was talking about our upcoming Easter prayer vigil and she was mentioning material that will be available for folks coming to pray (a thought just popped into my head: would they be a form of vigil-antes?!). And I felt one of those joy/sadness pangs thinking about last year and how great it was to be able to pray through all your Lenten collages but that we won't have that this year! (Though I guess I could print out screenshots or something from your blog!).
Well that's got me off my original point - don't sell yourself short!
Peace, Brother.
Emoly said…
our church has an art show right before Lent every year. We get pieces from amateurs, students, etc. This series would be amazing to have in it... are you interested in something like that? (or I actually wondered if you were going to try to sell it as a series on etsy?)
greg milinovich said…
thanks, greg. i appreciate those kind words. i really enjoyed putting that little devotional together last year. i was thinking about that, too, and was sad not to be doing it this year!

em, i would always be interested in showing stuff, but it is difficult to find opportunities that don't involve losing lots of money (selling amateur art isn't lurcrative when you have to rent space and so forth). if there were churches in this area that did it, or galleries that would do a show, i would be very into that. but i have yet to find that around here so far. i made a lenten collage series last year and i sold them individually. i may do the same this year. don't know yet.

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