2023 | Ansleigh Whitlock – St. Thomas' Anglican Church

Artist: Ansleigh Whitlock

Passion Art

Meet the Artist: Ansleigh Whitlock

Ansleigh Whitlock is a member of St Thomas and currently a Junior at Lucy Beckham High School. She has always enjoyed art and has used this opportunity to learn more as a growing art student. Growing up in the church, she wanted to use this opportunity to investigate the smaller details of the Stations of the Cross that she feels she had greatly missed before. She is thankful for the opportunity and support from the St Thomas’ family.

Jesus is Mocked

Jesus is mocked
Mark 15.16-20

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

Artist’s Notes: In this painting, a cut flower surrounds a pair of scissors. Dark areas are also shown surrounding the basic form of parts of the plant. Combined, the image represents the physical and abstract deconstruction of Jesus’ image. Like Jesus in this moment, the flower is something beautiful and good that is being destroyed by an outside force. Something I struggle with when reading the text, is understanding why a God that can make anything happen made this His plan. To show that God was present and did have a plan, I represented His presence in each of the paintings through balance.
Jesus Takes Up His Cross

Jesus Takes Up His Cross
John 19.16-17: Luke 23.26

So the soldiers took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

Artist Notes: The weight of the cross would make any who carry it feel small. A significant quality of Jesus is that he is human and can relate to the human tendency to feel small. However, like an ant, Jesus’ strength feels disproportionate to his physical realities. The painting shows a scene where two red ants, Jesus and Simon, struggle to hold a stick up on top of an ant hill while others watch. Another characteristic of ants that makes them so human is that they only achieve great tasks while using each other. Their cooperation and strength is why they are a good symbol to use to show how Simon helps Jesus during his struggles.
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Jesus Is Nailed To The Cross
Luke 23.32-34

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Artist’s Notes: This painting is one of the most literal in the body of works. It depicts a sheepshead and two cockroaches pinned to a wall. The sheepshead, to resemble the lamb of God, is a species in Charleston that provides for people, and is generally beloved. Cockroaches, on the other hand, are seen with the same amount of affection as criminals. However, while being pinned to the walls, both are seen as trophies, demeaningly held on a dismal background.
Jesus is Mocked on the Cross

Jesus is Mocked on the Cross
Matthew 27.36-43

Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Artist’s Notes: For this painting, I focused in on the words “if he desires him.” This line forced me to think of God’s presence during this time. I assumed that God had to watch silently as all this pain was inflicted on His son of which He loved. I wanted to use this very recognizable image of God in the clouds to show how He is reaching out, shining the streams of light that can be seen in all of my paintings. Overall, I wanted to show God’s love for Jesus in line with His grief as Jesus feels the pain He had to plan for Jesus to bear.
Jesus is Pierced in the Side

Jesus is pierced in the side
John 19.31-37

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Artist’s Notes: When Jesus is pierced in the side, and bleeds water, I made the observation that the blade, not Jesus, is destroyed since Jesus would rise and the spear would rust. This is an example of when an instrument of hate and of pain is destroyed by the power of God, mirroring how Jesus would soon defeat death. My goal was to show the power and excellence in this narrative through a depiction of the “Spear of Destiny,” which is an artifact speculated to have been the real spear from the reading. My depiction shows the spear rusted, and surrounded by circles that resemble ripples of water to mimic the ideas of an effect and a series of abstract lines radiating from the spear to show God’s power that surrounds it.
Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb

Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb
Matthew 27.57-60

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

Artist’s Notes: To me the hardest part about faith today is that it can’t be confirmed by concrete senses such as touch. I found this similar to how a person can know everything there is about the physical properties of light, but never be able to touch it. Following Jesus’ death, the disciples have to have some moments of doubt after their whole community decided that their savior was a fraud. They have to now sit with that doubt as they wait three days to see if the impossible will happen.

Ansley Whitlock Passion Art Station 5 2023

Station 2 Passion Art 2023 by Ansley Whitlock

2023 | Ansleigh Whitlock

Passion Art throughout the Years

Passion Art

Meet the Artist: Ansleigh Whitlock