Stations Of The Cross
Visual artist and parishioner Ben Cowan has created a set of original stations of the cross that will hang in our sanctuary throughout Lent. The fourteen stations of the cross are represented in painted panels for St. Ann & the Holy Trinity, not as an illustrated story, but as the repeated image of an airborne leaf falling to the ground. Ben sees in this series the cyclical pattern of Christ’s death and rebirth, reflected in the Eucharist and in the movement from the season of Lent to Easter, and beyond this to the church calendar, to autumn and then spring.
Leaves are an especially prominent marker of how seasons transform the landscape around us. In Ben’s personal art he has painted leaves combined with art historical representations of Christ’s body. This symbolic pairing alludes to the similarity of fragile skins, the hand like gesture of leaves, the idea of a leaf being separated from the thing that gave it life, falling to the ground and finally decomposing to return life back to the tree. In the Bible and in the architecture of our historic church building, metaphors of agriculture and ecology abound. These fourteen stations, mirroring the surrounding gothic woodwork and colorful stained glass, invite those reflecting on them to move with the descending leaf, and to contemplate Christ’s journey through his passion and crucifixion.
All Panels are Acrylic and Metal Leaf on Wood Panel, 16"x30", 2024
