The Madonna and Child in Repose

As an artist, I’m often asked what I make of the advances made in the world of AI and how I imagine it will affect my career as a religious artist. Regardless of how negatively or positively one imagines it will influence humanity, it certainly gives rise to a lot of uncertainty in society, and in this piece I’m striving to present a model of abiding in fortitude amidst uncertainty. When St.s Mary and Joseph were warned to flee into Egypt, they aren’t recorded as complaining, "But I don’t want to go, I don’t speak Egyptian!" We have no reason to think that they had family or anyone they knew they could rely upon. Rather, the image we are given is a young family who trusted in God, in order to save the life of their son, even if it meant becoming strangers in a strange land speaking a strange tongue. It’s with that kind of determination that we need to approach the uncertainty of the future, with trust in God’s promises, and that is the goal of this piece, to demonstrate to the world a trust in the savior who came into this world in the most humble of circumstances and overcame it all. The red in the geometric patterns behind St. Mary and Christ symbolize Christ’s blood which empowered and enabled St Mary to care for Christ in a retroactive manner such that she was able to flee into Egypt for a time. It also then goes out and empowers the rest of the world and is the source of our salvation and sanctification. Original artwork of Oil on Canvas 28.75 x 36.25. Painted 2025.