mater

 In this 

change of life, I 

question my role as 

mother

~ one of my favourites being this depiction of 

Mary, full of doubt, at her 

Anunciation:

And then, a series of sketches by Matisse, in preparation for inclusion in the Dominican Chapel, Venice:

Oh look! Christ's

suffering. Oh look! the 

nailing of his body to the Cross

Oh

Look! the glorious 

sketches of the face of the Mother.

I did not

document the series of drawings which make me think of 

Mary as a whore

Here she is, as an 

angel:

Here, surrounded by stars:

And here, the exquisite 

embrace of mother and 

child:

the Museum has a maquette of early ideas for the windows:

The chapel itself [which could not be photographed], thin, thinned, as is 

the thinness of air 

on the top of a mountain

I sit in awe of something

perhaps

already transubstantiate

An atmosphere not comprised of oxygen

[which we desperately 

need] but perhaps already

the breath of 

saints..

Except for Jesus' 

body, all of 

30cm tall,  here being 

sculpted by Matisse

[and here my 

drawing]:

Outside the 

Chapel, in the Museum: preparatory 

sketches: the volume(s) of the 

body, the weights of accusation and 

violations, the flesh of 

pride, and 

suffering..