Good Friday 2009- Life is the work of His hands!

04.10.2009

Hey gang, this here post is going to be a little wordy. Sorry

For the last few years I have built themes for the service at my church’s Good Friday service. For the last year I have been working on a series called ‘the hands of Christ’. It consists of body casts of Christ’s hands in various positions pertaining to certain points of his life. This is a dark piece as it leads you to his ultimate death on the cross. It starts off with Christ healing the leper’s hand, the next one is of a foot washing. Next is praying hands in the garden prior to his being taken away. Then we have a series with a hand holding a sledge hammer beside a hand with a spike being driven through it. Finally (and the center piece) is an abstract rendering of Christ on the cross which fades from abstract to realism in the top right corner.

These are the pieces that comprise the series. The setting is at the front of the church between the communion tables. As you take communion you walk past the piece. It’s a dark setting. The sanctuary is totally blacked out- except for a light shining up from the base of the cross… and 72 candles lit throughout the tables and floor. The whole thing is set upon huge canvas drop cloths- signifying the curtain in the temple that tore in half when Christ died……..

All the while a live musical performance was being played by the worship team with live power point on the screen at the front of the church. It’s funny because I kind of knew what the worship team was going to do- but never coordinated with them- and the whole thing tied together beautifully.

I don’t get moved by a lot of things, but this was a real good one. I put a lot of time and energy in this, and it was a lot of fun. I know my guys must think I’m totally nuts. They walked in as I was making a mold of my foot AND hand at the same time!! Combined with body parts floating around the shop for the past year- and a morbid crucifix scene dead center…..lets just say I get a lot of looks from the corner of their eyes…….

That said, I’m proud of this gig and excited I could use all of our concrete products we work with every day to build it. From overlays to dyes to stains to carving tools to air brushes, to wasps, to grinders, to………..you get the idea. That’s all I got to say about that…….

Here, have a look: