Crosses to Bear Print

This triptych was inspired by my experiences as a father and a husband. Although the phrase 'Crosses to Bear' alludes to the cross carried by Jesus to the crucifixion, in my conceptual approach it is more about helping and serving my family and the responsibility upon me to give them a healthy quality of life. Every day I do small and large things to help each member of my family and this is also returned in kind with love and kindness. Each abstract cross represents my wife, daughter and son and I use the cross not as a symbol of death or Christianity but instead turn the meaning on its head. Each cross becomes a representation of life and each work in the triptych is my emotional attachment to my family expressed via paint and plaster on canvas. I chose paint as paint for me can be an expression of emotion and the strokes are the context of that emotion. The plaster was added to represent the work involved in my relationships with my family and as plaster is viewed more as a work tool for industry I felt it was fitting to include this in my work.