LENTEN ARTIST'S EXPERIENCE

The Polish artist JACEK ROSSAKIEWICZ (b. 1956)  said about his art: "In my understanding, to express man's spiritual life is to create art. The subject of the painting doesn’t matter. But the art has to originate in the inside, it has to be a result of man's life experiences. It cannot be simply planned; how to shock, how to draw attention to one's self, it cannot be done for money either. Because the spiritual and emotional state of an artist while painting, or working on a different work of art, is encoded in the painting and this energy is emanating from it."

Of his  Passion cycle he writes: I chose the Gospel according to Saint John because of its description of the events after the Resurrection. As I was working on these paintings, my spiritual life was deepening. It was a personal, emotional experience. Without the faith these paintings would have never come into being. This was a testimony of my faith and a desire to provide a testimony of adoration for Jesus.

Everyone knows that the Way of the Cross ends with the Deposition. It ends with the most pessimistic moment in Jesus' life and in the history of Christianity.

It is painted in the green tones  but here it is an earthy green - green ground. This greenness is muted. It is visible that Jesus is dead. There is no life in Him anymore.

Of his "Pieta":
The painting became a depiction of total destruction. The paint was scraped off and burnt. A black abyss was created and it is the main theme of this painting. This black abyss, such a painting of total destruction is for me - with regard to spirituality - a reflection of our times. In my opinion such destruction is taking place right now.