Saint Joseph the Worker
Oil on cradled canvas
4.5’ x 6’
July 6 – 17, 2019
Joseph and the boy Jesus are working through high noon. Joseph attempts to lift the plank of wood from Jesus’ shoulder, but Jesus embraces it. This painting was designed to hang inside the Dean’s office: Joseph is symbolic of the Dean who guides his students. Theological meaning may also be perceived in the banana trees, the banana tree being one of the Philippine trees of life, alongside the bamboo and the coconut.
The composition in this work was derived from ancient Egyptian wall paintings. As such, the figures of Joseph and Jesus may be considered allusions to Pharaoh and the boy Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, and to Pharaoh and the boy Moses.
This painting was executed in earth and flesh tones, and used six kinds of yellow: ochre, raw sienna, chrome, cadmium, jaune, and Naples.
The following was the auditory stimulus I used while working on this painting. The auditory stimuli I use for my paintings, however, have nothing to do with the paintings' subject matter:
