One of the stitches I learned while developing this tapestry is the crossed gobelin. The bronze circle which overshoots the frame and is therefore only partially visible is worked in various threads, and is a surrounding circle of strength which contains the background panel, worked in crossed gobelin. This background is deliberately pastel, but with some parts of it showing stranded red.
The close-up shows the crossed gobelin is exactly what it says, a stitch in the shape of a cross; and some of them coloured red. The intention is clear enough; against a background that is formed in cruciform stitches, held in the golden bronze circle of divine power, the redemptive love of the Triune God is shaped in a circle of light, creation and suffering, and at the centre the co-inherence of Father Son and Spirit, an eternal kenosis of grace and love, overspilling in creation, redemption and reconciliation.
Much of this is now interpretation of a work which at the start was developing much more naively, and yet with a repeated reading of the text, and a continual searching for colours and shapes which conveyed the essential power of Colossians 1.15-20. From then on the work became more intentional, responsive to what was already worked, new ideas coming in the process. The blue canopy of eternal life at the top, and the foundation red of suffering love at the base, complete the imagery. It is surrounded by a ribbon of gold blocks, and a border with variations of key colours, especially blue which brackets the whole.
Today is Good Friday, when once again, we remember "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their tresspasses against them". It is a day when the historic realities in all their ugliness were on display, an exhibition of human ingenuity in the pursuit of power, self-interest and the alleged safeguarding of 'the truth', 'the nation', 'the faith'. The betrayal and the violence, the cruelty and indifference, the mob and the cowards, the political expediency and religious zeal, all the mechanisms of social organisation which crush the life and humanity out of those who dare oppose a status quo which will not be questioned. And yet..."though him the reconciliation of all things, making peace by the blood of his cross". These are words deep dyed with the blood of God in Christ. And on this day, we bow our heads in gratitude, worship, and wonder. Because in Him, incarnate, crucified and risen, "in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...."
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