Hallowed

.

Something amusing in a snobbish sort of way is the trend in some churches of eschewing Halloween (that pagan holiday!) in favor of harvest festivals (so wholesome!). Amusing of course because Halloween is a Christian holiday that’s taken on the trappings of the old pagan harvest festivals.

Anyway, abhorring images of death is not necessarily a sensible thing for those who believes in a God who died in order to overcome death.

So I’m all for the somber, black-clad elements of Halloween, even when they turn cartoony and absurd. Facing death is good for us. Keeps us humble and reminds us why we need Christ.

This brings to mind Glen Nelson’s fascinating discussion of what it was like to judge the Church’s annual art competition. Specifically, this bit:

Mormon artists want to engage in creating imagery of the cross. For me, this was one of the biggest surprises of the competition experience. The New Testament theme was so broad, artists didn’t need to tackle the crucifixion, but many, many did—in paintings, photographs, and other works. We have been told, as members of the Church, that the crucifix is not a primary symbol of Mormonism, and indeed it is practically absent from our graphic identity.

When I first looked at these submitted images, I expected to see that they came from countries with predominantly Catholic populations. Perhaps that was a prejudiced idea. I know from my own experience living in Latin America, that such images are so common as to become a shared vocabulary. I thought that Latin and Filipino LDS artists, for example, might be more likely to create images of Jesus’ death than artists outside of that heritage. But I was mistaken. Crucifixion artworks seemed to be coming from everywhere. Why? Does the pain of the biblical experience speak to artists? And why now?

All of the jurors commented on this phenomenon. Artists appeared to be more comfortable showing their own pain, too, and I have to wonder whether the confessional nature of social media has broken down some of the traditional barriers regarding identity and given artists permission to be more intimate.

Maybe I’m wrong, but it felt a bit defiant, as well. They were submitting these works to an institution that has made it quite clear that their preferences for images of the Savior lie elsewhere. And yet, these are beautiful and powerful. They work. I didn’t find them, in any way, inappropriate because of their subject matter. I will be curious to see if this is a trend, and if so, how it spreads to other areas of Mormon character.

Without the everpresent threat of death, the need for a savior—or religion generically—becomes cold and academic. So for Halloween this year, I’m sharing a couple of these death-facing images from this year’s competition, themed “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus“:

Earth Shall Pass
Tyler Vance

.

Father, Forgive Them…
Diane Stevenson Stone

.

Truly This Man Was the Son of God
Clark Kelley Price

.

Anchor Me
Erin Amber Pearson

.

Circulation
Aundrea Leonna Frahm

.

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: For They Shall See God
Nathan Samuel Florence

.

Arm of Mercy
Kevin Figueira

.

Akeldama
Valeriano Ugolini

.

Fallen Sparrows
Jeffrey Barker Edwards