Concerning: Miracles (at Lawrence University)

On Monday I presented 50 pieces of toast, arranged in rows 5 x 10, each piece of toast was branded with the visage of the Holy Virgin. As I consider the piece's meaning. I find it becomes a mocking and serious comment on the need for salvation, the need to believe in a higher power, man's unresolved issues and fear of the unknown, and life after life. I've been reluctant to work with images of the Holy Mother because I was afraid of the message I might be sending, in other words, I did not want a piece of work that was just about shocking and offending people. Religious iconography has been a driving force of art since 28,000 BCE, from prehistoric to contemporary times, it is not an uncommon theme, especially that of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary, like her son, is a symbol of salvation. I argue, that one can relate more to the Virgin Mary because like you and I, she was an individual, she is often portrayed with open arms, welcoming, beckoning, all sinners into a "judgement free zone", where it is easy to be absolved of sin, because if anyone is going to forgive you, no matter what you've done, it's your mother.

The piece I created, entititled, We Believe in Miracles, was brought about by a number of influences including: the print making process, Catholicism, toast, eBay, salvation, transubstantiation, consumerism, breakfast, and miracles.

For years people, including: prophets, saints, children, men, women, and mental patients, have at some point in their lives, believe that they have seen or, were visited by, a visage, or apparition of, specifically in this case, the Holy Virgin. St. Bernadette claimed to have seen 18 apparitions of the Holy Mother at Lourdes, France. At Fatima, in Portugal, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children, giving unto to them the what we know today as The Three Secrets of Fatima.
However, we live in a time where "seeing is believing." Concrete images hold the attention of today's audiences far longer than apparitions which only a select few can see. No one is more special than the next person.
Today, the Virgin Mary has been known to grace a number of mundane objects with her 2-Dimensional presence. She has been seen in: toast, ultrasounds, underpasses, along the sides buildings, turtles, and watermelon. Some may argue turtles and watermelons are anything but mundane, I'm inclined to agree, at certain times of the year, Autumn not being one of them.













The Virgin Mary gracing the underbelly of a turtle and a cross-section of watermelon













Above, the Virgin Mary appears on the wall of an underpass in Chicago on Fullerton Ave. in the guise of a salt stain, under the Kennedy Expressway (I-90, for those not familiar with Chicago's silly names for interstates).



















Way back in 2005, in Fort Wayne Indiana, the Virgin Mary appeared in a woman's ultrasound kissing her baby.













Here, the Virgin Mary appears on the side of a building, in Kirkwood, MO, due to a pipe leakage.














Who could forget, the Virgin's appearance in grilled cheese, which sold for 28,000 dollars on eBay. Diana Duyser, allegedly almost had a heart attack when she saw Mary staring back at her. People, take this piece of toast very seriously, and someday in the future may end up in the Vatican Vaults somewhere as a holy artifact, I'll continue living for that day.

On a side note, Bernadette always has been my favorite female saint, ever since I went to catholic school and they made us watch a film on the life and times of Saint Bernadette.