Paintings of Faith, Hope and Remembrance
the Galleries at the INTERCHURCH CENTER
475 Riverside at 120th st • New York, New YorK
December 3 – 31, 2001
The trivial preoccupations of private life and the relentless demands of our corporate culture threaten to deplete our spirit and drain color from our lives and turn us into cynics.
The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th– shocking as it was to the nation’s consciousness – has made us keenly aware of the gift of life and rekindled our need for belief in the myths and value systems which shaped our civilization. All at once, we hear the words good, evil, justice, hope, love, courage and patriotism without embarrassment.
By depicting ancient symbols in the vernacular of our time, I hope to engage the viewers and give them pause to contemplate the values that have shaped their spiritual imagination. Also, I want to appeal to their sense of color and rhythm, and encourage them to decorate the inner spaces of their minds with vivid images of heroes and martyrs, shepherds and angels, saints and sinners….in short, to look “through” my icons and into their souls.
Christina Saj, 2001