Acrylic
6' x 6'
2009

The final assignment for painting class was to paint something inspired by maps and cartography. My first thought was to do something which represented the Gospel being spread through all the world, but I was at a loss how to portray that. Then I stumbled across something. Most people would call this coincidence, but I think God was helping me out a bit.

The next week, in the classroom for an academic class, I noticed what looked like a large scroll rolled up in a corner. It turned out to be a ragged 50-year-old map printed on cloth. It showed only Europe, Asia, and part of Africa, but distorted (I'm sure there's a proper word for it that a geography buff could tell you). Instantly, I knew this was what I needed. I talked to the geography professors and they assured me that it was junk; the school had no need for it. I was the proud owner of a beautiful, six-foot long map, full of character and possibilities for a facinating painting.

The image I settled on was the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin is alleged to be the cloth Christ was wrapped in during his three days in the tomb. An image of the man who looks just like you'd imagine Christ would look can be seen on it, and it's a mystery to everyone how that image could be there. It wasn't painted on, it's not ink. I'm not Catholic myself, but I think it's the genuine article. I know the Catholic church tests these artifacts rigorously before they accept them as authentic.

The image itself is very rough and ragged, which matched the map I was working with, and some of the ruddy earthy colors in the shroud were used by the artist of the map. I repainted the image from the Shroud of Turin onto my map, using the colors of Easter: purple which symbolizes the crusifixion, and green which symbolizes the resurrection. Some cracks in the map translated perfectly as the wounds on Christ's head, hands, feet, and side.

Note that I've highlighted the area where Jerusalem is with the abstract triangular shape to the left, and that the area is unpainted. The world as portrayed in the map does not include the new world. When Christ gave his disciples the commission to spread the gospel to all the world, this would have been the ends of the earth as the disciples knew it.

It isn't shown in this photograph, but the border for the map contained information such as the artist who drew the map. A ratio read 1: 6000000, which means the ratio from the size on the map to actual size. One of the verses I was considering when approaching this piece is Colossians 1:6.

I wanted this map to feel like a mysterious artifact that was stumbled upon in modern times, so that people would feel the same excitement of discovery I did when I found the map itself.