_Saint Lorenzo Ruiz_ and _Saint Pedro Calungsod_ (Diptych)

These two paintings were completed July 25 – August 18, 2019.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz

Oil on cradled canvas

6.5’ x 4’

July 25 – August 18, 2019

Saint Pedro Calungsod

Oil on cradled canvas

6.5’ x 4’

July 25 – August 18, 2019

  

The two Filipino saints are depicted in the same field, with rice ready for harvesting and coconut trees in the background. This diptych was designed to hang outside the President’s and the Dean’s offices in the lobby, across Christ Calming the Storm. While Christ Calming the Storm was painted from a high angle, i.e. from the point of view of the wind, Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Saint Pedro Calungsod were both painted from a low angle to create a visual shift as viewers pass through the lobby. Theological meaning may be perceived not only in the rice field but also in the coconut trees, the coconut tree being one of the Philippine trees of life, alongside the bamboo (Saint John the Baptist Triptych) and the banana (Saint Joseph the Worker).

Above and behind everything in the diptych, a metaphorical tsunami, representing powerful forces of oppression, rises in preparation for extinguishing all forms of life beneath it. The diptych, however, is about the salvation of the soul against all odds, including death.

I went through a very brief Dimash Kudaibergen phase in July and August. The auditory stimulus I used while painting this diptych was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-BYMBJFH_U. The auditory stimuli I use have nothing to do with the subject matter of my paintings.