The Hands Project:
Scriptural Stations of the Cross

I am a retired community college art professor who has recently returned to my Catholic faith after an absence of over thirty years.  To share my excitement and gratitude in having found this wonderful direction in my life, I decided to create a series of paintings depicting the passion of Christ but with a new “twist”.  I began traveling to churches in my vicinity and studying their Stations of the Cross to get some ideas.

I was somewhat let down by the artistic limitations of the traditional stations and was delighted to discover a different series.

The Scriptural stations were first introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1978.  They were modified by Pope John Paul II and promulgated by him on Good Friday, 1991, in the Roman Colosseum.  The traditional stations relate to the oral tradition established in the early centuries of Christianity along with passages from scripture.  These “new” choices coming directly from the Bible seemed to me to lend themselves to a fresh approach.

After viewing some beautiful large bronze panels of the stations at a local retreat center I began to think about perhaps creating “close ups” that would be more easily seen and understood in a darkened church environment.  While attending a Lenten retreat at the center I was particularly struck by the elegant expressive hand gestures made by the young Passionist brother who was leading the program.

From that moment on I have to admit that I did not hear much of what was said but was enchanted by how much could be told with hands.  The “Hands Project” was launched that weekend.

A square was chosen as the format because it seemed to be the right shape to enclose the expressive movements needed to tell the story.  Also a square is the closest geometric shape to a circle which has been the symbol of heaven seen in art from the earliest times. The original paintings in acrylics on canvas measure twelve by twelve inches.  Friends and neighbors provided their hands for the project.

I have created these paintings to be used as an evangelization and meditation tool.

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