The Dead Christ and Four Bearers

Vintage Bible and first aid manual illustrations, rust, crushed stone, blood, gold leaf, and beeswax on paper.
2008

Juxtaposing illustrations from a vintage first aid manual and an antique Bible, this art is an exploration of faith, medicine and ritual. There is an uneasy nostalgia for a simple faith and ritualistic acts of devotion in a time when ambivalence has eroded confidence in institutions that seemed to offer easy solutions. Worldviews of faith and science collide in times of illness, injury and death and we are forced to weigh our decisions on the balance of our beliefs.

Reminiscent of altar-pieces or shrines, the beeswax surface in this piece is ritualistically marked with gold, blood, crushed stone and rust to reveal a desperate longing for Truth where only contradictory truths can be found. By acts of devotion, one tries to revive faith, but faith can only be placed carefully on a stretcher and medicine can only hope for a miraculous cure.

They can both disappoint us in spite of our belief and repeated rituals. There is a bittersweet realization that the divine is brought to the level of humanity in the same moment as humans seek to be elevated to the level of the gods.

Paul Roorda lives in Kitchener, Ontario and does mixed media drawings and sculpture with found objects, books and natural materials. His art has been profiled in MIX Magazine and has been the subject of an episode of "The Artist's Life" which aired on Bravo! TV. He has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Ontario and in Quebec, including the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery and the Institute for Christian Studies in the Toronto School of Theology. He was the 2007 Artist-in-Residence for the City of Kitchener and was recently commissioned to create the artwork to mark the 50th anniversary of the University of Waterloo. Paul Roorda's work is found in numerous private and public collections, including the Donovan Collection at the University of St. Michael's College.

More of his work can be seen at www.paulroorda.com.

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