Artwork by Susan Crawley
I have been using the imagery of machines for several years and for several reasons. I feel that they are very "American." I like the strength expressed by the forms. I find them visually exciting.
A friend from Vineyard was looking at some of these paintings and drawings with me one day and I suddenly "saw" them through her eyes. Looking at the images I realized that they told a story. I think that our lives as Christians closely parallel that of Christ's. We go through struggles that have a certain sequence. Initially, an encounter with difficulty invokes a certain resistance. Then a resigned acceptance and ultimately triumph. These images, the drawings and paintings seem to tell this story.
If you start at the beginning and follow through, reading the accompanying scripture, you can see the connections between one image and another. They tell the story of the machinations that Christ was caught up in. The story of his passion.
We don't always understand what we are going through. Only through retrospect can we see it. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
-Susan Crawley
Help
"What I feared has come upon me!" (Job 3:25)
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour." (John 12:27)
Magic Wand Machine
"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me..."
"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:38-39)
On the Run
"I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered."
(Matthew 26:31)
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6)
Masquerade Machine
"The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me."
(Matthew 26:23)
Cyclops
Pilate: “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus: "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." (John 19:10-11)
Laughing Machine
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. (Luke 22:63)
Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. (Luke 23:11)
One Eyed Jack
Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness. (Isaiah 52:14)
Crown of Thorns
And then they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.
(Matthew 27:29)
Trapped
Then they led him out to crucify him. (Mark 15:20)
The Cry
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" (Psalm 22:1)
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. (Psalm 22:24)
Untitled
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
(Isaiah 53:11)
They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done it. (Psalm 22:31)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Glimpse
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
(I Corinthians 13:12)
