The Calvary

The "Calvary" is a painting of hope. Christ's face is heavy with sorrow as He takes on the sins of the world and makes His incredible sacrifice on the cross. Through the face of suffering we can see the crucifixion which is the sacrifice Christ made for all humanity. The middle left side of the painting depicts the sacrifices made by Christian martyrs.

The scriptures tell us that it was Christ's sacrifice that opened the gates of Hell so as the souls there as depicted in the rocks on the lower left of this work could ascend to Heaven with the help of the angels as pictured on the middle right side of the piece.

The ravens on the upper left represent the cares, sorrows, and sins of this world. But through the sacrifice and with the help of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which are represented by the three eyes in the upper center of the picture, those ravens are muted and made bearable as can be seen just below the third eye. The rightmost eye represents the Holy Ghost. It is encircled with doves symbolizing its peace and love. Thus through the sacrifice and the Trinity, humanity is freed from the bondage of care, strife, and sin. The artist rendered himself in the work appearing on the lower right of the canvass, representing Saint John as well as all humanity which benefits from the forgivness bought by Christ's sacrifice and glories in the hope that this brings.

The cloth robe worn by the artist on the lower right is a representation of the cloth pressed to Christ's face by Veronica on which his countenance was indelibly imprinted. The cloth pictured shows Veronica's face crying in anguish for the pain Christ had to endure on the cross.

The Calvary is a vision of time and place where all of humanity's hope for salvation and a life in God's grace was born. We should upon it as an eternal reminder of God's love for the world and everyone in it. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16

The artist of this work is Octavio Ocampo. Octavio Ocampo paints in a style that he terms metamorphic, this name is appropriate for two reasons: first is that his pictures appear realistic in nature, but upon closer examination belie that which was first seen and appear to be something else entirely. The second metamorphosis transpires within the viewer of the work as he is given a glimpse oh his preconceptions and how they effect what he sees. It is uncanny how what we most need to see, appears most prominently to us and can in fact be a comfort and guide as we interact with Metamorphic works and through them with our own subconcious.