FIRST STATION Jesus Is Sentenced To Death Assemblage By Jerry Di Falco

Year:

Medium:

Assemblage

Size - (USA):

10 W x 20 H x 3.5 D (inches)

Size - (metric):

25.4 W x 50.8 H x 8.9 D (centimeters)

Theme:

Christian

Edition:

Original

Artwork ID:

381900

PDF Copy:

Artwork Info Sheet (PDF)

Artwork Description:

This series of my Stations of the Cross are now part of The Permanent Collection of Liturgical Art at THE PHILADELPHIA EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL, 38th Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. WHAT ARE THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS- These fourteen artworks act as Lenten meditation tools, which depict scenes from Christs final hours on earth. They are usually executed as wall reliefs in plaster or wood, paintings, or sculptures. Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, and Anglican Catholic churches display them all year on their left and right walls. My STATIONS are mixed media wall assemblages executed on stretched, primed canvas. They incorporate many items from nature including bones, poppy seeds, rose stems, mammal skulls, and glazed sugar. No animals were harmed to obtain the bones, which were all found in nature. My works also include castings of objects I created and photographic images that I chanced upon on the streets of in trash dumpsters. Some of these photos were altered by hand or digital means. I also used original photos taken by myself. Pictured here is STATION NUMBER ONE, entitled JESUS IS SENTENCED TO DEATH. In this narrative Pilate questions Jesus, whose name in Aramaic is Yeshua and finds him guiltless of any crimes against the state. At this point in the trial, Christ has already been tortured and mocked by the Roman soldiers and the Hebrew temple guards. Before he appears before Pontius Pilate, he has been crowned with a ring of spiked thorns, and severely whipped. His pain is high and his blood loss is heavy. In spite of the innocence of Jesus -- and at the insistence of the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem -- Pilate condemns Christ to death by crucifixion. To cleanse himself of any accountability in this act, Pilate orders that water be brought to him for the ceremonious washing of his hands and to purify his guilt. I photographed my own hands, which were covered in latex gloves, for this piece using time lapse methods. Next, I scanned the text, Never enough water, over this image. The words express the idea that no amount of water could ever cleanse the sin of condemning the innocent The latex gloves also symbolize our sanitation of capital punishment. Media for this specific STATION include The Skull and teeth of young deer, metallic thread, clear acrylic polymers, acrylic paint, digital photographs, acid free paper, and, stretched canvas on wood. The deer skull was found in the Wissahickon Valley, which is a nature preserve area in the City of Philadelphia.

Artwork Keywords:   Original Assemblage

Materials:   Assemblages