UKRAINE'S FLOWER ARTIST

 

Another Ukrainian folk artist that Picasso enjoyed was  KATERYNA VASYLIVNA BILOKUR.  "If we had an artist of this level, we would make the whole world talk about her.”

Born in 1900, in the village of Bohdanivka, near the capital,  she had  an unpromising start,  but her works became known in the late 1930s and 1940s for their interest in nature. She was named People's Artist of Ukraine.

At the age of 6 Kateryna learned to read, though her parents decided not to send her to school to save money on shoes and clothes. 

From early childhood she  wanted to paint. And despite the fact that it was impossible to get either paints or paper in her village, she made homemade brushes of twigs and scraps of wool, and painted on pieces of canvas she took from her mother, or on the tablets she found from her father.

She envied her younger brother, who was sent to  school — for he had notebooks! She started drawing at a young age, though her parents frowned upon this "hobby" and would not let her do it. Kateryna continued drawing secretly, using old rags and coal.

… wherever I go, whatever I do - I have an image in my head that I simply have to draw, it follows me... I'm offended by the Nature, it was cruel to me, by giving me this enormous love to holy drawing, and then took away any chance to create this marvelous work to the whole wide extent of my talent!"

She tried several times for training in art schools, but was not accepted. She continued to paint, and the resistance of her parents persisted. In 1934, driven to despair by the persecution of her mother, she tried to drown herself in the local river. 

Kateryna’s feet were affected by the icy cold water and  she remained disabled for the rest of her life.  Only after the suicide attempt did her mother allow her to paint and did not force her to marry, 

 Kateryna was an attractive girl and she had enough suitors in her native village, but none of them understood her passion for painting. The grooms were surprised and demanded she leave her creative dreams. Kateryna was in no hurry to get married. 

Already in her adulthood, she felt loneliness, she really wanted to share her joys and sorrows with a loved one, but they did not understand her in the village. She left her thoughts and feelings in her letters to Kyiv art critics, with whom she corresponded, and in her autobiography. All her lines are imbued with lyricism and sincere credulity.

 

Kateryna became famous for her flower compositions. All her works are distinguished by meticulous detail. In winter, she painted flowers from memory, but in spring and summer she worked both in the field and in the garden and would even walk 30 km away to the neighboring Pyriatyn forest to draw lilies of the valley.

The artist is known to never pick flowers. She said: "A plucked flower is like a lost destiny." Maybe that’s why her lively bouquets with peonies, daisies, roses, mallows, lilies have a special magic.


"Fate is testing those who dare to go towards a great goal, but no one will catch the courageous, they stubbornly and boldly go to their intended goal with clenched hands. And eventually fate rewards them a hundredfold and reveals all the secrets of truly beautiful and incomparable art to them."

UKRAINIAN NATIONAL TREASURE

 

           "May I Give this Ukrainian Bread to all People in this Big Wide World" - 1982

In our last Blog we mentioned the artist  MARIA PRYMACHENKO.   She was born in 1909 to a carpenter and craftsman and in a small village near Ivankiv, 19 miles from Chernobyl, where she lived for most of her life. She contracted polio at an early age, leaving her with physical impairment, which influenced her life and her art.  By reports from her relatives, Maria grew into а thoughtful and considerate woman, having compassion for nature and every living thing.

 Her art reflected the Ukrainian countryside to which she added mythological-style scenes and fantastic beasts. She also drew from local mythology and folklore.

Maria’s mother taught her embroidery when she was only a child, and later the artist, Tetiana Floru,  recognized her talents and in 1935, invited her to work at the Central Experimental Workshop of the Kyiv Museum of Ukrainian Art.

At this time, Maria swapped embroidery for painting, and is considered a self-taught artist.

 In Kyiv, Maria underwent two operations, which enabled her to stand unaided. She met her partner, Vasyl Marynchuk, there. In March 1941, their son Fedir was born. She and Vasyl did not have time to get married before he went to war,  and he died in Finland.  She returned to Ivankiv and worked on a collective farm.

Her work was first exhibited in 1936 at the First Republican Exhibition of Folk Art, which traveled around Russia and Poland. It was when her work was shown in Paris the following year, that Picasso saw it and  said: “I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.” 

The artist Marc Chagall, depicted realistic and fantastical animals in his paintings, which he called “the cousins of the strange beasts of Maria Prymachenko.” Since then, Maria has been a symbol of Ukraine.

In 1966, Maria was awarded the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.UNESCO declared that 2009 was the year of Prymachenko.

Thankfully, her works are spread among Ukrainian museums and private collections. The largest part of her legacy, nearly 650 works, dating from 1936 to 1987, is kept in the collection of the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Applied Art in Kyiv which so far survives.

Maria’s son Fedir became a folk artist and a master of naiveté, dying in 2008. Her grandsons Petro and Ivan also became artists.

UKRAINIAN FUTURE

 

Son, Make the World Better Place, 1988 –

Ivan-Valentyn Zadorozhny. (b, 1921 in Rzhyshchiv, Ukraine)

We must safeguard the cultural heritage in Ukraine, as a testimony of the past but also as a catalyst for peace and cohesion for the future, which the international community has a duty to protect and preserve. 

(Audrey Azoulay   UNESCO Director-General, at the start of the Russian invasion.)

Ukraine is a country with a vast cultural heritage. But this rich cultural history is now at risk. All through the war, Ukrainians have tried to remove art pieces to safer ground.  Reminiscent of WWII?  Putin's recent assertions that the country is historically and culturally part of Russia have led to fears that his military may seek to destroy examples of Ukraine's unique artistic traditions.

Much has already been lost or destroyed. Museums in the homes of folk artists and folk production are found throughout the country. One such museum in the village of Ivankiv, not far from Kyiv,  was destroyed in a fire. It housed many works by one of the most loved folk artists, Maria Pryimachenko, which are now lost forever.  A  village man saved 25 of her paintings. She is considered to be an icon of Ukrainian national identity.

 With news of the Ivankiv museum attack spreading quickly around the world, overseas activists and arts organizations have been looking to publicize Maria’s  work as an act of solidarity. Her 1982 painting "A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace”  is a symbol of hope for the country.

The severity of the damage to Ukraine’s cultural inheritance in other parts of the country, is yet to be assessed.

MEMORARE

 

                                              Uliana Krekhovets- Ukraine

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help
or sought your intercession
was left unaided.
Inspired with confidence, I fly to you,
O virgin of virgins, my Mother.
To you I come, before you I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy,
hear and answer me.
Amen.

Today on Divine Mercy Sunday the Holy Father had these words:

“Today marks two months since the beginning of this war: Instead of stopping, the war has worsened. It is sad that in these days, which are the holiest and most solemn for all Christians, the deadly roar of weapons is heard rather than the sound of bells announcing the Resurrection; and it is sad that weapons are increasingly taking the place of words. 

I renew my appeal for an Easter truce, a minimal and tangible sign of a desire for peace. The attack must be stopped, to respond to the suffering of the exhausted population; it must stop, in obedience to the words of the Risen Lord, who on Easter Day repeats to his disciples: ‘Peace be with you! (Lk 24:36; Jn 20:19.21)..

I ask everyone to increase prayer for peace and to have the courage to say, to show that peace is possible. Political leaders, please, listen to the voice of the people, who want peace, not an escalation of the conflict."

MODERN SAINTS- UKRAINE

 

                                       Christ with Two Marys- Frank Wesley- India

"For women of this generation, who have lived through past wars, it must be “unbearable to see what has happened and is happening in Ukraine.

There is a fundamental need to change, following the lessons on peace taught by Jesus and the saints of every age, who make humanity grow through the witness of a life spent in the service of God and neighbor.

But it is also  the school of innumerable women who have cultivated and nurtured life; of women who have cared for fragility, who have healed wounds, who have healed the human and social wounds; of women who have dedicated mind and heart to the education of new generations.” (Pope Francis)

“The tragedies we are experiencing at the moment, particularly the war in the territory of Ukraine so close to us, remind us of the urgency of a civilization of love. In the eyes of our brothers and sisters, victims of the horrors of war, we read the profound and pressing need for a life marked by dignity, peace and love.

Like the Virgin Mary, we must continually cultivate the missionary spirit to make ourselves close to those who suffer, opening our hearts to them. We must walk with them, fight with them for their human dignity and spread the perfume of God's love everywhere."   Pope Francis, April 23,2022

RESURRECTION RICHES

 

                                                Mary at the Tomb-  Frank Wesley- India

She brake the box, and all the house was filled
With waftures*  from the fragrant store thereof,
While at His feet a costlier rose distilled
The bruisèd balm of penitential love. 

And lo, as if in recompense of her,
Bewildered in the lingering shades of night,
He breaks anon the sealèd sepulcher,
And fills the world with rapture and with light.

 "The Recompense” by John Banister Tabb.

* waving

Frank Wesley was born in Azamgarh, U.P., India in 1923 into a fifth generation Christian family of Hindu/Muslim background. 

He began studying at the government school of Arts and Crafts in Lucknow  continuing to postgraduate study, later joining the teaching staff.

With the aid of an American patron, Wesley continued his art education at Kyoto Art University from 1954 to 1958, where he learned traditional and modern Japanese painting techniques, lacquer work, textile design, woodblock printing, and ink drawing, and in Chicago from 1958 to 1960, which included coursework at the Art Institute, where he learned about modern abstraction and how to work with oil paint.

Wesley returned to India in 1960 and, after a four-year courtship, married Athalie Brown, an Australian nurse working in a mission hospital in Azamgarh. They had two children. Seeking better opportunities, he emigrated to Australia with his family in 1973 and lived there until his death in 2002. Even in his new adopted country, he continued painting biblical scenes in an Indian style.

His work has been internationally recognized. He designed the urn for Mahatma Ghandhi's ashes.  Five of his paintings were included in the 1950 Holy Year Exhibition at the Vatican.  "The Blue Madonna" was used as the first UNICEF Christmas card.

MYRRHBEARERS

Myrrhbearers-  Ivanka Demchuk

If in that Syrian garden, ages slain,

You sleep, and know not you are dead in vain,

Nor even in dreams behold how dark and bright

Ascends in smoke and fire by day and night

The hate you died to quench and could but fan,

Sleep well and see no morning, son of man.

But if, the grave rent and the stone rolled by,

At the right hand of majesty on high

You sit, and sitting so remember yet

Your tears, your agony and bloody sweat,

Your cross and passion and the life you gave,

Bow hither out of Heaven and see and save.

Easter Hymn -  A. E. Housman

WOMEN OF HOPE

 

Detail- Myrrahbearers-  Ivanka Demchuk

“The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being achieved in its fullness, the hour in which woman acquires in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is under-going so deep a transformation, women impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid mankind in not falling.” Pope  (St.) Paul VI’s 1965  address to women.    

Breaking through the powers of darkness
bursting from the stifling tomb
he slipped into the graveyard garden
to smell the blossomed air.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
that I have journeyed far
into the darkest deeps I’ve been
in nights without a star.

Tell them Mary, Jesus said,
that fear will flee my light
that though the ground will tremble
and despair will stalk the earth
I hold them firmly by the hand
through terror to new birth.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
the globe and all that’s made
is clasped to God’s great bosom
they must not be afraid
for though they fall and die, he said,
and the black earth wrap them tight
they will know the warmth
of God’s healing hands
in the early morning light.

Tell them, Mary, Jesus said,
smelling the blossomed air,
tell my people to rise with me
to heal the Earth’s despair.

                     Tell Them - Edwina Gateley

EASTER IN UKRAINE

 

Ukraine Easter- Nikolai  Pimonenko

For many in our country, the only thing we know about the Ukrainians are their beautiful Easter eggs.  We are fortunate to have about a dozen given to us years ago and when the invasion by the Russians started, Mother Dilecta put a bowl of  our eggs under the altar as an outward sign of our continuous prayers.

Unlike  Western Easter eggs, these are not dyed, but rather decorated in a traditional  method, using candles, colored dye and beeswax. It takes hours to make one egg.

These eggs are called  "pysanky" a term meaning to write or to inscribe. This method originated in eastern Europe and predates Christianity. Pagan peoples believed that their magic would assure the coming of Spring. In Christian times, the pagan decorated egg became an Easter egg, symbolizing Christ’s Resurrection. 

 A stylus, called a kistka, “paints” the  melted beeswax “writing” the design onto the egg. (The term pysanky, plural for pysanka, comes from the verb pysaty, which means “to write.”) Families have handed down their own plant-based dye recipes. The designs  are often of nature: wheat, fire, animals, flowers. Some patterns are purely geometric, a bit Art Nouveau or Japanese inspired.

The initial wax lines resist the first dye and remain white. As more wax designs are added, the egg is dyed repeatedly with successively darker dyes. Many colors, or just a few, can be used. With the attacks in Ukraine showing no sign of stopping, our eggs have come to mean more to us, as we continue to hold the people in our hearts, praying for new life.  

Amazingly enough, hours after I wrote this Blog, Mother Therese received a package from our friend, Isabel. Inside carefully wrapped was a beautifully decorated pysanky.  Isabel, a very gifted artist, taught a class on this ancient art and like so many artists today, sent all funds to aid the Ukrainian people.

EASTER MONDAY

 

 Resurrection - Ivanka Demchuk

Easter Monday, by Christina Rossetti 

Out in the rain a world is growing green,
On half the trees quick buds are seen
Where glued-up buds have been.
Out in the rain God’s Acre stretches green,
Its harvest quick tho’ still unseen:
For there the Life hath been.

If Christ hath died His brethren well may die,
Sing in the gate of death, lay by
This life without a sigh:
For Christ hath died and good it is to die;
To sleep when so He lays us by,
Then wake without a sigh.

Yea, Christ hath died, yea, Christ is risen again:
Wherefore both life and death grow plain
To us who wax and wane;
For Christ who rose shall die no more again:
Amen: till He makes all things plain
Let us wax on and wane.

 

RADIANT FACE OF JESUS

Resurrection-  Ivanka Demchuk

If you were not risen,
Lord Christ, to whom would we go
to discover a radiance
of the face of God?

If you were not risen,
we would not be together seeking your communion.
We would not find in your presence forgiveness,
wellspring of a new beginning.

If you were not risen,
where would we draw the energy for following you
right to the end of our existence,
for choosing you again and anew? 

Brother Roger of Taize

 

THE FACE OF CHRIST- SATURDAY

 

 

The disfigured face of Christ reveals to us the state of the human heart. Nonetheless – even though the blows were able to disfigure His Face and the flogging he received in His Head caused a hemorrhage of blood in His eyes – sin was not capable of changing the expression of His countenance.  

His flesh and his appearance were marred – nose out of joint, forehead with open wounds, lips burst open, cheeks purple – yet His countenance represented the love in His Heart:  serene, prayerful, patient, humble, obedient, meek. 

Sin did not touch His Heart, and His eyes were able to reveal it.  His eyes, like bright lamps, shone powerfully in the midst of the darkness of sin that disfigured His face, manifesting the light of love that was never extinguished in His Heart – regardless of the horror that our sin brought upon Him. 

 To contemplate the Face of Jesus is to contemplate His Heart – the most intimate of part His Heart that is manifested in His Face.  In an inspiration the Lord showed me His disfigured and suffering Face, but with eyes full of such serenity that it transmitted strength.  In the midst of suffering and great pain, His Heart remained fixed on Love and that was His strength and His serenity.

The Face of Christ in the Face of the Church, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins (Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints)

Images: Top- Cimabue, Pisa, Italy (d. 1302)

             Bottom- Dieric Bouts - Netherlands (d. 1475)  

FACE OF JESUS- FRIDAY

 

 

"Suffering has to come because if you look at the cross, he has got his head bending down ... he wants to kiss you... and he has both hands open wide ... he wants to embrace you.  He has his heart opened wide to receive you.  Then when you feel miserable inside, look at the cross and you will know what is happening.  Suffering, pain, sorrow, humiliation, disappointment, feelings of loneliness, are nothing but the kiss of Jesus, a sign that you have come so close that he can kiss you...That suffering has to come that came in the life of Our Lady, that came in the life of Jesus...it has to come in our life also.  Only never put on a long face.  Suffering is a gift from God.  It is between you and Jesus alone inside." (St. Teresa of Calcutta)

Image:  Laur Iduc- Saint Etienne, France

FACE OF JESUS - THURSDAY

 

His look was marred “beyond that of man and His appearance beyond that of mortals…He was spurned…and we held Him in no esteem” (Is. 52:14; 53:3). 

 "The face of Christ which is reflected in the Saints, and which they have in turn revealed to the world, is that of the Lord who died and rose again, of whom the Pope speaks in Novo Millennio ineunte:  "As on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, the Church pauses in contemplation of this bleeding face, which conceals the life of God and offers salvation to the world. But her contemplation of Christ's face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One.  (Bishop Rino Fisichella Reflections on the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter ‘Novo Millennio ineunte,  (L'Osservatore Romano)

Image: Christine Pausche- USA

FACE OF SUFFERING JESUS- WEDNESDAY

 

                  Tetiana Duman-Skop - Ukrania (d. 2020 of brain cancer at age thirty-nine

 

Most holy Face of Jesus on the cross, what a lesson You give to me! Your charity has reached even to the extent of pardoning Your executioners and praying for them. It is, above all, for those who struck You, wounded You, dealt You blows, covered You with spittle, that You said: "Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do."

 When they struck You, You endured them, gently and in silence. Now, You raise Your voice to excuse and defend them, to obtain pardon for them; in offering for them Your blood, You give them the greatest proof of Your love. Teach me this Your endurance of our neighbors and this Your generosity in pardoning even our most cruel enemies. Yes, I forgive, for love of  You all who have offended me. With you; I pray for the sinners who outrage You, for the wretched men who blaspheme You; I beg of You their conversion and their salvation. Let them but turn to You, oh most Holy Face, let them invoke You; it is enough! Whoever looks on You, oh blessed Face, with faith and repentance, will escape the sting of the serpent and will find life.

(Novena to the Holy Face)

THE FACE OF THE SUFFERING CHRIST- HOLY WEEK MEDITATION- TUESDAY

 

"We cannot come to the full contemplation of the Lord's face by our own efforts alone, but by allowing grace to take us by the hand" (Novo Millennio ineunte, n. 20). John Paul II

Through the ages both East and West have both retained the desire to express the face of Christ in art. But the East has been better able to preserve the tradition in icons, which for many is a form of prayer and of worship. Yet when I checked for more modern images, I found most from Western artists.  Each day this week I will present some of these striking works of art with a short meditation.

 The face of  the suffering Jesus is the face of all suffering mankind. In His face we see our limitations and even our own deaths taken away.

"The Church is called to reflect His Face, the face of Christ Teacher, Prophet, Priest and King, in order that we can say of her in relation to Christ what Christ said of Himself in relation to the Father:  "He who has seen Me, has seen the Father" (Jn 14,9). 

The basic mission of the Church is to be the transparence of Christ and of His face. Human beings have the inalienable right to be able to see the face of the Lord in the face of the Church, in order that in her and through her they can see and contemplate Him."

Bishop Rino Fisichella  Reflections on the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter ‘Novo Millennio ineunte’ -  L'Osservatore Romano

Images:  Top - Fra Angelico, 1438  - Italy

              Bottom -  Joan Gasco- 1513- Spain 

 

THE WOUND IN THE SIDE

 

The final wound was in the side of Jesus' chest, where, according to the New Testament, His body was pierced by the Lance of Longinus in order to be sure that He was dead. The Gospel of John states that blood and water poured out of this wound (John 19:34). Although the Gospels do not specify on which side He was wounded, it is conventionally shown in art as being on Jesus' right side, though some depictions, show it on the left.

 

The fact that both water and blood came out demonstrates the extreme stress and trauma He was under. It was so intense that it brought about a condition known as pericardial effusion. This is where fluid builds around the heart and can be fatal.  It is often said that this event shows that Jesus died of a broken heart.

 The blood and water show us two important aspects of the Lord’s death: the redemptive aspect (blood) and the life-imparting aspect (water).

Because Jesus shed His blood to accomplish redemption for us, we can be forgiven and cleansed of all our sins. 

It is clear by historical and medical evidence that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death. 

If the spear pierced through the outer pericardium wall and into the heart, then the watery fluid and blood could have poured out through the wound. It emphasizes the reality of Christ's death and His very humanity. The idea of the Resurrection was very important to the early Christian community. Paul specifically wrote: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:17) 

The blood and water signify two important matters: redemption (blood) and the imparting of life (water). Jesus' redeeming death accomplished  redemption for us, giving us the forgiveness and washing away of our sins that we might have life.  As we are cleansed by His blood, we can receive more of the divine life by drinking of Him, the fountain of life.

After the resurrection, Jesus invited Thomas “the doubter” to put his hand also into His side saying, “Reach your finger here…and put it into My side…” (John 20:27). This final piercing of Jesus showed the state of His heart. 

"If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced His side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood of the holy Eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it."

                                                           From the Catecheses by St. John Chrysostom , bishop 

WOMEN IN WAR MEET CHRIST

 

 

As women continue to bear the burdens of war in the Ukraine, they know that nothing will be the same, but in spite of the hardships, these women are  brave and resilient. These are ordinary women performing profound acts of bravery in the face of adversity. And they’re all doing it with dignity

 "It is not normal to have this life, we are peaceful people. I've only heard of war from my grandparents. We live in the 21st century. We were developing, we were studying," says one young woman.

This war- like all wars- is also putting women and girls at a grave risk of violence, exploitation and abuse as they are displaced and now we hear of the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol and the mass execution of civilians in Bucha.

An estimated 80,000 women will  have given birth in the first three months in the war– many of them without access to critical maternal health care, and for many childbirth will be a life-threatening rather than a life-changing experience.

“When we resort to violence, we show that we no longer know anything about God, who is our Father, or even about others, who are our brothers and sisters.

 We see this in the folly of war, where Christ is crucified yet another time. Christ is once more nailed to the Cross in mothers who mourn the unjust death of husbands and sons. He is crucified in refugees who flee from bombs with children in their arms. He is crucified in the elderly left alone to die; in young people deprived of a future; in soldiers sent to kill their brothers and sisters.

 ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”    (Pope Francis , Palm Sunday 2022)

This week as we go through the journey with Jesus as He heads to His earthly end, let us remember His prayer to the women He met along the way: Weep not for Me but weep for yourselves and your children.

Station of the Cross: Felicity Prazak- USA

ABORIGINAL STATIONS

As we enter Holy Week, I ponder some unusual Stations of the Cross  from Australia, imagined, dreamed and painted by JOHN DUNN, an Olkola/ Djabaguy man from Far North Queensland.

 Along the seven-metre length, four journey tracks interweave: two undulating aboriginal tracks which integrate the aboriginal story with Christ’s own Way of the Cross and, along the top and bottom, tracks made of thorny branches which speak of colonization and its impact on the Aboriginal community.

 The Passion of Christ resonates deeply with Aboriginal people who identify readily with his innocent suffering. Artist John Dunn himself was caught up in the pain of the stolen generation. He did not find his family until he was in his 40s, after many years of searching.

 The process of painting this story was for him a personal discovery of his Aboriginality and his own hurt and isolation; the journey led him to peace and a healing of his spirit. All Aboriginal people recognize themselves in his struggle and in his emergence at the end, strengthened by a new hope.

 This set of Stations of the Cross was commissioned by the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria in 2017 and are arranged along the main wall of their chapel in Thornbury, Melbourne. 

 These artworks are unique, very vibrant and engaging, not only raw and heart-felt for John Dunn, but capturing at a deep level the experience of all Aboriginal people.  They encourage reflection on the story of Aboriginal Australia, an awareness of discrimination and the disregard for human rights, and a yearning for healing and justice.  They are an invitation to the wider community to connect with the faith and spirituality of Aboriginal people who have carried the Creator Spirit with them since time immemorial.

The paintings are rich with Aboriginal symbolism.  Many of these recurring elements are visible even in the first Station.

 

Aboriginal figures often watch from a distance in curiosity; sometimes they run to get away from what is happening.

 Different animals are incorporated; they were vital for survival and used as totems for identification, like a birth, death and marriage directory.  Each person is given a totem at birth that integrates them into their mother’s and father’s family.  You cannot marry someone with the same totem; you must always protect your totem; you cannot harm, eat or hurt your totem.

The tiny hand prints represent the ancestors in the Dreaming (heaven) watching over us for eternity; people must always respect their ancestors and never forget them for without them no one would be here today.

 John Dunn’s family from Far North Queensland are represented by the ceremonial head dresses still worn for special ceremonies and rituals; they are a recognition of Our Own People.

 The circles in the Aboriginal journey tracks represent Aboriginal people from different tribes meeting together; these meetings occur regularly in their journeys over this wide land.

The colors reflect the Australian continent and the ochres traditionally used for artwork and for body paint in ceremonies and rituals; Aboriginal spirituality recognizes that human lives are governed by the Creator Spirit.

 The cross which Jesus carries also uses Tiwi designs; it demonstrates the Jesus’ story is inclusive of the many different tribes and arts from all parts of Australia.