Zen Christ
Riel Hilario
2013

The sculpture is a reworking of the subject of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Instead of showing him distraught over his impending death, the sculptor portrays Jesus in the manner of the Buddha at the moment of his enlightenment. Both religious leaders have parallel lives and it is in this moment that they seem to intersect. At the eve of his arrest and eventual crucifixion, Jesus prayed at Gethsemane under an olive tree, (if Nikos Kazantzakis is to be believed) contemplating his choice between humanity and godhood. Buddha, in his own struggle under a fig tree, battled the choice between remaining on earth to teach or pass away into nirvana. The sculpture portrays the moment of choice - which is the same dilemma between the two figures - and the parallelism is translated as a curious interpenetration of the two images as one and the same divine being. The technique in the iconography is also hybrid. While the head and hands are of ivory material (reminiscent of the antiques of santo statuary), the body and his cloak are articulated in the style of Gandharan Buddhist sculpture.

Medium
Epoxy resin and wrought iron

Dimensions
102 x 76  x 52 cm (40 x 30 x 24'')