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Two weeks ago, I wrote in Part 1 of this article about the story that inspired my painting about St. Augustine of Hippo's Baptism. Today I will explain the symbolism in the painting itself. Through mark-making with brushstrokes, suggestive imagery, and the modelling process, I weave symbolism in this painting to invite viewers to consider how St. Augustine's story of becoming Christian might relate to their own stories.
The way I used mark-making to paint the water plays a big role in this painting's symbolism. From the top right corner to the bottom left corner of the painting, I painted the graced waters of Baptism in brushstroke counts of three.* While I was painting this image last summer, I was also reading about aesthetic theology. In my studies, I learned sacred artwork frequently uses the number three symbolically because it reflects the relationship of the Trinity: 3 persons in such communion that they are 1 God. According to The Way of Beauty by David Clayton, patterns of three in artwork are inherently beautiful because this pattern echoes the source of all beauty, the holy Trinity. I employed this knowledge by painting the baptismal waters with brushstrokes of three not only for aesthetic reasons, but also because the person receives the sacrament of Baptism "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Rite of Baptism). Aesthetically, this brushstroke process creates a more patterned and lively texture in the baptismal water (bottom right corner) contrasted with a more flat and dull texture in the water from St. Augustine's old life of sin (top left corner).
Additionally, I used mark-making to create a different, but complementary, pattern and meaning in the path the baptized person walks to receive the sacrament. To create the trail of water behind the baptized person and the water from which the baptized person emerges, I painted using cross-patterned brushstrokes. If you look closely enough, you will see tiny individual crosses in this part of the painting. I did this because, in Baptism, the person enters into Jesus' death on the cross and rises with Jesus to new life. From the very beginning of the Christian life, the new Christian embraces the cross with all the promises of the resurrection. For Augustine, one of the crosses he embraced upon his baptism was disregarding the opinions of people who did not have his true well-being at heart. You may also notice the droplets dripping from the baptized person's head as they emerge from the baptismal waters. I used pearl-like marks to create water droplets to symbolize that, in our Baptism, both Augustine and we find the "pearl of great price" Jesus mentions in one of the Gospel parables.
The imagery I employed in this painting is also symbolic. In the top left corner, you see academic regalia sinking in the water behind the baptized person, symbolizing the old life of sin St. Augustine had to leave behind. Some people remarked to me they thought the academic robe and cords looked like rocks. I think such a perception creates added meaning because rocks, especially rocks of that size, are heavy. They hold things down beneath them, and have no life. Similarly, St. Augustine's sin of pride weighed him down from living the life he wanted to live. Being so attached to his prestigious status as an academic kept him stuck in "madness" and "death" (to use his words quoted in Part 1 of this article). It was this prestige he needed to let sink behind him as he received the graces of his new life. Another symbolic image I used in this painting is the seashell. Seashells are symbols of Baptism. Many times, you will see a priest or deacon pouring water over a baptized baby's head with a seashell. I included the seashell in my painting to make it clear that this painting points to Augustine's Baptism as the moment he embraced the cross. I also included three seashells, employing the symbolism of the number three, to symbolize that he was baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Rite of Baptism).
The modelling process I used for this painting adds meaning to the painting as well. This painting is part of my Saints and the Cross series, in which I have someone model a moment from a saint's life when the saint embraces the cross. The chosen moment in the saint's life has to resonate with the model's own story. In Part 1 of this article, I described how I discovered St. Augustine's story resonated significantly with my own. Like him, I also struggled with the emptiness of people pleasing. Like him, Jesus invited me on a long journey to receive freedom from that lifestyle. So after some internalized arguing, I decided I would model for this painting since it was so personal. To model for this painting, I asked my then-fiance Frank to photograph me while I emerged from a body of living water, symbolizing the moment St. Augustine emerged from the living waters of baptism.
We chose to do the photoshoot in a small cove along the Rhode Island coast. It was a rocky and steep climb down to the cove's beach. Upon arriving at the bottom, we both felt the water. Brrr it was cold! We sat on some rocks with a print-out of the baptismal vows, and sitting there on the shore of this hidden cove, we each prayed and renewed our baptismal vows: "I reject Satan, and all his empty works, and all his empty promises. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth ... ." After renewing our baptismal vows, I took out my own college graduation robe and cords as well as a simple white dress that I put on over the clothes I was wearing. I walked into the frigid water until I was up to my neck, and asked Frank, "Are you ready?" "Yes!" he replied. So I tossed my academic robe and cords into the water, dunked myself under, and came back up gasping for air. Frank caught me on camera in the moment I emerged from the water for my first breath.
You discover symbolism in this painting through its mark-making, imagery, and modelling process. The brushstroke marks in the baptismal waters symbolize participating in the Trinitarian life. The brushstroke marks in the baptized person's path to baptism symbolize joining Jesus in his death and resurrection. The pearl-like water droplets from the baptized person's head symbolize how in Baptism, the new Christian finds the biblical pearl of great price. The imagery of the sinking academic regalia symbolizes the prestige Augustine had to leave behind to become Christian. The three shells symbolize the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whose names all Christians are baptized. Finally, the modelling process symbolizes how the saints' lives should evoke reflection on our own need for continued conversion. Clearly this is not a painting of St. Augustine's Baptism because I, the model, am a woman, and he is a man. Instead, this is a painting about how pride, especially in the form of attachment to prestige and people's opinions, can hinder all of us from the life Jesus calls him or her to. I cannot propose a theological treatise on that, but it is my story. So with this painting, I invite you to consider how St. Augustine's story, or any other saint's for that matter, sparks reflection on where Jesus is calling you in the next chapter of your story.
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*To provide you with a visual, imagine me counting "one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three" with my brushstrokes. I painted three brushstrokes together, and continued layering that pattern until the water was finished.
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