CHRIST GARDENER

Christ the Gardener is a fascination of mine, a fascination that first erupted in the spring of 2022, when I had the opportunity to see Caspar Fraisinger's 16th century drawing of Christ the Gardener for the first time. Christ as gardener is a mistake. According to the Gospel of St. John (John 20:11-17), Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus Christ but did not find his body anymore because he had risen from the dead. Instead, she saw a man whom she mistook for the gardener, who was none other than the risen Christ. In my paintings I do not follow the traditional Christian narrative, but create my own. The stories in my paintings are not about Christ gardener, but Christ Gardener. Based on Mary Magdalene's mistake, I created my own character, experiencing a similar story to Christ of Nazareth, but in a completely different way. This series of paintings includes twelve paintings inspired partly by Old Testament motifs (the prophet Jonah, the Garden of Gethsemane), to a greater extent by New Testament events, and to a lesser extent combining the passion stories of early Christian saints (St. Lawrence). For the painting I chose a format of 30 x 20 cm. Until now I had worked mainly with large format paintings, and conversely these small formats represented an unexplored territory for me and forced a completely different way of working than before. As a painting technique I chose tempera, which among other things carries connotations of medieval painting, as one of the oldest techniques of hanging/desk painting. It was this connection to medieval painting as well as the qualities of tempera itself that were important factors for me in painting these paintings. The paintings were installed at the Faculty of Fine Arts on separate columns between the windows of the Painting Studio 3. In a way, this is a reminiscence of the Stations of the Cross, although the number of stops does not correspond, nor are the last moments of Christ's life.

Christ Gardener Exports Manure from Jeruzalem, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener Exports Manure from Jeruzalem (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Sleep on Golgotha, 2023, tempera painting and chalk on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Sleep on Golgotha (detail), 2023, tempera painting and chalk on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Resurrection of Christ Gardener, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Resurrection of Christ Gardener (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Noli Me Tangere 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Noli Me Tangere (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Me Tangere, 2023, tempera painting and chalk on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Me Tangere (detail), 2023, tempera painting and chalk on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener and Jonas Fishing, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener and Jonas Fishing (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener Washing the Feet of Child, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener Washing the Feet of Child (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Spit-roasting at St. Lawrence, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Spit-roasting at St. Lawrence (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener and Two Eves at the Garden of Eden, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Christ Gardener and Two Eves at the Garden of Eden (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Curious Thomas, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Curious Thomas (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

The Cleansing of the Temple, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

The Cleansing of the Temple (detail), 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

Descention, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 20 cm.

anta Sabina in the Gardens of Heavenly Jerusalem, 2023, tempera painting on canvas, 30 x 25 cm.

Red Madonna, 2023, tempera painting and chalk canvas, 30 x 25 cm.