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Artist: Harriet Bigham

Medium: Oil on canvas

Station: Jesus meets his afflicted mother

Artist’s Statement

I taught at an inner city school in Kansas City, MO and once took my class to see stained glass at Grace & Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. One window depicts a black saint (St. Cecelia) and few students have seen stained glass windows (or a saint) with their color skin. Jesus was often depicted as Caucasian (with pathos, not the horror which the situation might warrant), so I decided to depict Jesus as mid-eastern; then later as black. On researching, I found that much of South American art depicts Jesus as black, and that mid-eastern means many different skin colors. In pondering this passage, I thought about the reaction of Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, wife of Clopas, as well. I was struck by the lack of emotion from the women in historical art. Most depicted a pathos: a gentle suffering. We are bombarded with the horror of suffering in the media today and forced to confront grief; mourners in Beirut pictured in the New York Times showed the emotion I wished to emphasize, so I referenced the image for my painting. I have tried to emphasize the universality of the Christian religion. I would like to go back to my inner city school to hang my painting of the black Jesus.

Conversation with the Artist


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