Maundy Thursday, 2023

Prayer Panel 07
Bailey Hughes
Acrylic gelli plate prints of found objects and drawings, frame, paper, chain, cup hooks

Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

— Matthew 26:38-39

What is prayer?
(A poem by the artist)

Is prayer a shingle on your roof
or the moment that you wake?

Is prayer a request or a candle
lit on a remote altar?

Is prayer a beautiful silence?
Do you eat prayer for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner?

Is prayer a hand raised to heaven?

Is prayer a home to be renovated
or a whisper in the night?

In this work, twelve individual pieces of paper form a stark black and white grid of abstracted imagery. Chain is suspended from the white frame, adding a sculptural element and evoking a tactile sense.