The event that inspired these pieces of art was a moment in my high school religion class when I overcame my fear of what my peers thought of me however I started doubting my religion. I was in religion class my junior year when my teacher introducing World Youth Day. I was fascinated by this Catholic event but none of my classmates seemed to care. This experience caused me to start questioning my beliefs. Why did none of my classmates care about this class when I did? Do I even have faith or do I simply practice because my mom wants me to? The more I thought about my faith, the less sure I was of what was fable and what was the truth. Currently I am still trying to figure out whether it’s worth being a Catholic if I don’t believe in all the Church’s rules. For this assignment in my studio class, I had to create coherent postcards that depicted a memory through the five senses. These postcards reflect my observations and experiences of the Catholic Church and they depict some of the concerns and questions I have towards my religion.
Sketchbook Notes
These notes were my written ideas and visions for my postcards.
First Draft: Experimental Sketches
For this first trial, I used charcoal to depict smoke and the thurible for the smell postcard.
I used sound waves and wrote “What do you hear? Music or words that have no meaning?” for the sound postcard.
I drew a Church and wrote “What does his building represent?” for the sight postcard.
Second Drafts
For this draft, I decided to have the sound waves going in one direction and the quotes going in another. On the left side was a reflection of mine where I apologize for misbehaving in Church and acting badly in general. On the right was a quote from the Pope addressing the youth and telling us to have strong faith and not get distracted in what’s going on around us. In the middle I wrote “I’m Ashamed. Forgive me.” This postcard was for sound.
This sight postcard has praying hands, wide, staring eyes and a church. The quote says “Do you participate or do you just watch?”
This smell postcard has a quote about the Holy Spirits essence in the thurible and the smoke that comes forth from it.
Finished Five Senses
This piece depicts the sense of taste. Jesus’ blood is spilling out of the Catholic wine chalice. The quote says “Take this all of you and drink from it for this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.” This is said by the priest when he is blessing the wine and turning it into the blood of Jesus.
The sense that this piece is depicting is touch. This quote is from Psalm 51:10 and it says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” There is a hand extending towards a heart literally symbolizing God touching someones heart.
This piece depicts sound. The lines in the middle are sound waves of “You Raise Me Up,” a common song sung in the Catholic Church. The quote is from Pope Francis addressing the youth and telling us not to get caught up in what we think is important. When I was younger I used to hate going to church. I would do everything in my power to not go. When I was there I wouldn’t participate and I would laugh at how bad my Nana’s singing was. Looking back I feel ashamed of my behaviors. Even if I wasn’t participating I should have been respectful.
The image on this card is a thurible which holds burning incense and is only swung on feast days in my church. It has a very strong smell and is supposed to remind us of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Behind the image is a quote from a priest who is describing the importance of the censer in the Catholic religion.
This piece asks “do you participate or do you just watch?” It addresses how when I was younger I was influenced by what was going on around me. When I saw people staring off into space and looking bored during mass, I would do the same. Not until later on in my life, when I finally started appreciating God and my religion, was when I started devoutly praying and singing in Church.
Reflection:
Overall, I am satisfied with my final drafts for these postcards. They all had interesting visuals and quotes that conveyed the message I was trying to get across well.
