Artwork Description:
Saint Sebastian is one of the most portrayed saints. This etching—based on three of my original drawings, all which were adapted from a publicity photo from a 1976 British film entitled, “Sebastiani”—shows the saint during his supposed execution. The media include an original blend of colored oil base etching inks and STONHENGE cream colored paper. I used a zinc etching plate that measured 7 inches high by 5 inches wide, or 17.780 cm by 12.700cm, that is consequently the same as the image. The print measures about 15 inches high by 11 inches wide, or 38.100cm by 27.940cm by, and the wood and glass frame’s front size is almost 16 inches by 12 inches wide, or 40.640cm by 30.480cm. The price includes mat, frame with glued paper packing, carton, handling fees, and packing materials. This original, hand printed work employs the studio techniques of aquatint, intaglio, and drypoint. It is published in FOUR editions, each limited to only five etchings. I printed it in Philadelphia at The Center for Works on Paper in Fleisher Art School’s Open Studio in Printmaking. The free standing printing press was a Charles Brand industrial model made in New York City. The story of this saint involves many different narratives, depending on what source is researched. The official Roman Catholic version lacks many facts, including the truth about Sebastian’s Pagan belief in Apollo, as compared to Christ, and his sexual desires. In the film “Sebastiani”, directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress and written by Jarman, Humfress and James Whaley with music by Brian Eno and Andrew Thomas Wilson, the plot surrounds relationships between the Roman soldiers in an out-of-the-way, costal outpost in the 4th Century A. D. The film was done not in English, but in Latin. The work is dedicated to the victimsand their familiesof the Easter Sunday 2019 Sri Lanka Massacres. This island off the east coast of southern India was formerly called Ceylon. May the murderers, planners, and financers reap the karmic curses nine times over for their participation in this cowardly and demonic act. May their paradise of pain and flame consume their souls’ torments for all time... hasta al fin de tiempo. So Mote It Be.