Jesus Christ

I took the digital image I had made and turned it into a 4 layer Risograph print using Yellow, Blue, Scarlet and Black. Then using combination of gold foil and gold ink I hand illuminated the image.

When I was first creating this project, I knew that one of the figures I was going to include had to be Jesus. For this piece in particular I wanted to take inspiration from the story of Doubting Thomas, a piece of iconography that is already interpreted to be queer and combine it with other symbols of the queer community to tell a new story, this one of Jesus inviting the queer community in, to touch him and offering his protection and love.

I also combined my imagery and messaging with themes you find in Haptic worship, and how Jesus was often depicted in these scripts to also be connected to female genitalia, pain and symbolism. Oftentimes in these passages, Jesus’ side wound is meant to look like a vagina, and his sex is often obscured, so I took that and fully made Jesus’s body into a non-binary body, and turned his side wound into a top surgery scar.

All together, I really wanted to show a non-binary Jesus as a symbol and protector of the queer community, and have him embrace us and welcome us.