Transfiguration : August 6th

Painting by RS Thomas, an Indian Artist [from a USPG booklet : The Life of Christ by an Indian artist] I find this painting conveys the Transfiguration [ Luke 9 v 28f ] so well... reminding us of the rainbow that brings hope after a storm [ if you can see this in the webpage view, then look down the labels on the right hand side, searching for "rainbow"; click on that and you will be able to see the lovely rainbow photo by Katrina Kerr... a double rainbow over the river...Wow! ]

      Abide in me : painting by Indian artist Jyoti Sahi 

 

The Transfuguration, by an Indian artist...where Jesus is portrayed in the style of an Indian holy man or ‘sadhu’ with the kind of aura sometimes used to portray the Buddha’s Enlightenment... [eg in the Buddhist cave-temples in Dambulla, Sri Lanka]

for Indian Christian paintings in more Hindu style, see the artwork of Jyoti Sahi
 

Continuing this series on Christian paintings from various cultures... I am hoping to show you some more from Jesusmafa... & hopefully also some from Sri Lanka...

you might also be interested in a book published by the World Council of Churches: Christ for All Peoples...

how do you paint something so unprecedented as the resurrection ? 

 Jyoti Sahi has solved this puzzle by portraying elements from both the crucifixion and resurrection... as though the crucified christ is bursting with new life... 

 try spending some time just looking at this painting...

 what emerges from the patterns ? what can you see here ? ...

 do these shapes remind you of anything ?

 I tend to see something new each time I look...

 the rather sharp tree branches that speak to me of pain..

. and yet the outstretched hands reaching upwards as though full of new life, growing into something completely new... into a new future that is far more joyful...

 yet with the shape of a cup deep in the centre... what could that symbolise ?
...two figures... could they be Mary & John ? 

 ...Mary, given another son to look after...

 and John, to comfort Mary in the depths of her grief...

 and to write the anonymous gospel that now bears his name... 

... ... ...

 

anothe rMary : Marymagdalene finally recognises the risen christ...John ch20...

& Vladimir Icon