I’m honored and excited to work on this next commission for Saint James Catholic Church. I was approached last year and contacted out of the blue because they had seen my collection of 10 multimedia pieces at the Flat Files exhibition at H&R Bloch Artspace in 2019. Here is one of those instances where you never know how your work will lead to a unique opportunity.

The church’s representative saw my work and enjoyed my expressive portraits. Most Catholic churches have stained glass windows full of Anglo-Saxon art, but this church hopes to represent their mostly immigrant population of brown and black parishioners through art.   After meeting the committee and seeing the space, we agreed on four Saints for the series.  While the windows and relics would be expensive to replace, there is prominent wall space that will suit the addition of my work well. Although it took a little while to settle on the who, it’s all starting to come together. Each saint was well-researched to find the most appropriate images to study, draw and paint. Most are a composite of a few historical depictions to get the just-right look. I feel like one of the greats from the Renaissance Era, commissioned to paint for the church. I’m pretty stoked. 

Here I’ve laid the foundation for Augustine Tolton and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.