Canadian Artist Christian Worthington About His Painting The Prodigal Sun
Christian Worthington – Based on the parable of the son who wastes his inheritance, lost for dead, finally returns to his father’s open arms. This painting captures so many qualities I continually aim to achieve – the glowing light that embraces the figures through layers of transparent and opaque oil paint. Creating a mood and atmosphere distinct to the art of painting.
My work and the forms that I use are anything from large scale liturgical projects where it’s like numerous paintings in the context of a liturgical space being used as that to large scale industrial sculpture for outdoors and indoors. Very finely rendered small portraits where I really pull in closely to capture the sitter as best as I can.
Also, trying to technically manage the standard that I think the 16th and the 17th century painters established. What I mean by that is that’s something I just willingly accept as a standard that I have to deal with. and there is no way around it. It’s like a non-negotiable level that I think I have set for myself.
Part of what made those artists so great is that they had a great acumin for reading scripture, deriving image and meaning from that scripture and making it visual for others to see. I think that a lot of artists miss that. It’s almost like an inconvenient fact that all these images are derived from scripture.
The scripture of the prodigal son is that when I’m reading that text I am experiencing it. There is almost a cinematic image in my mind. The text is producing a visual response in my mind. And that’s what I’m trying to capture with this painting.
I’m aware that all these artists that came before me had their own take on it. I used the example of the last Supper. When Leonardo’s Last Supper is the first image that reaches your mind.And Rembrandt’s Prodigal son sort of has that same power.
It’s not that you think of yourself as rejecting or competing. It’s more like – I’m going to read the text and pull my own vision from it.
I am trying to find a way and my reaction to this story, or how am I seeing these characters. You are trying to find something that you find interesting artistically that you can create from that.
This work was created to raise funds for Inner City Youth Alive.
