Christ 1925

John B. Flannagan carved this Christ from stone. The figure is slender, elongated, and smooth, like Brancusi. I'm trying to imagine what it must have felt like to carve this. All that patience, the feel of the stone giving way under the chisel. You start with a block, and you have to see the figure within it. It’s a slow reveal. Look at the planes of the face, the way the features are simplified. It reminds me of the way early woodblock artists pared down forms to their essence. Flannagan’s hand gives the figure a certain vulnerability, a humanity, and a sense of calm. Carving stone is like a dance with time, a conversation with artists who have worked with this medium for centuries. The piece reminds me of Ernst Barlach. Artists build on each other’s work, adding their own voice to the chorus. In the end, it’s all about human expression, about making something that speaks to the soul.