The centerpiece of our Christian tradition
"I Am The Vine."

Hours after recieving the news his cancer had reoccured, an emotionally charged Roman Catholic priest described this story of creation to me. We worked on the piece in my studio for several months continuing the dialogue of salvation as the piece took shape. He commissioned the bronze in celebration of his parents and it now ministers to the Catholic Community of Saint Mary in northern Michigan. His cancer is once again in remission.

Inspired by a Pauline understanding of the significance of the cross, the vine of humanity winds through this monumental bronze encompassing Adam and Eve and figures representing every race and stage of human development. The humanity vine binds Jesus to the cross. One arm beginning to lift off the cross beam and the expression of exhausted satisfaction represents the time between death and resurrection truncated into an instant. "I have run the race, fought the fight, now a crown awaits me."

Mary's body is composed of many bodies. A suggestion of her nursing her children was incorporated into the design which was inspired by Jesus' question, "Who is my mother and my brother?" The base of the sculpture is rich in symbolism including the evangelists with their scrolls, a lamb tied in preparation for sacrifice and a person in a fetal position "returning to the dust from which they came".

"What is not assumed is not redeemed."