PLU faculty artist illustrates death and redemption

By Matt Nagle

Tacoma Weekly
mattnagle@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: January 17, 2008

Sloth. Gluttony. Greed. Lust. Wrath. Envy. Pride. These are the dreaded Seven Deadly Sins according to Christian teachings going back to ancient times. There are those who tremble at just the mere thought of committing any of these acts for the consequences can strike fear into the heart, no matter your particular denomination, as swift and certain punishment is inevitable. These offenses are universal, and easily understood in any language.

What is more is that the Seven Deadly Sins are around us every day. Sexy images in advertising can cause lustful thoughts. Most rap music is all the rage, literally, with its basis in rough and wrathful lyrics. And every day on television the high life of rich celebrities is dangled like a carrot, causing envy in those who wish they could live so large. The temptations are certainly out there, making it even more difficult to avoid these seven deadly don’ts. (That is, unless one embraces the Seven Holy Virtues of chastity, abstinence, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.)

It is the reality of these pitfalls in our lives that Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) visiting art professor Craig Cornwall seems to play on in his exhibit “Seven Deadly Sins, One Saint” now on view in the University Gallery at PLU. The exhibit is divided into two parts: drawings illustrating each of the sins, most done in stark graphite with no adornment, and brighter paintings that herald in the “one saint,” Saint Joseph and his coat of many colors.

Cornwall’s written analysis of the sins provides a level of understanding as to how someone goes about committing them in the first place. In his artist’s statement accompanying the exhibit he writes: “The Seven Deadly Sins aren’t sins at all but tendencies in our character that predispose us to sin.” Thus wrath leads to killing, lust leads to sexual abuse of children, and so on.

In Cornwall’s exhibit, the images of the sins are put into a modern context. Doing so gives them meaning and relevance and a certain amount of eerie chill. The exhibit stands as a visual testimony and sociopolitical commentary on all that is wrong with the world today, acts like environmental poisoning driven by financial greed and lust for power leading to war that could bring ultimate destruction to mankind.

By incorporating St. Joseph into the exhibit as a “positive,” Cornwall effectively balances out the “negative” of the sins. Indeed, the saint comes through as a light of hope as his story teaches that through adversity God is with us, but it is up to us to make good choices in our lives like Joseph did.

Upon entering the gallery, the viewer sees Cornwall’s “The Pit,” a black hole full of ghostly, mournful faces gazing up in despair at the damned who teeter on the pit’s precipice. This sets the tone for what is to come, a sort of walk through the valley of the shadow of death as the viewer is taken on a tour of sins.

To illustrate “Gluttony,” Cornwall drew a plump pig wearing a suit and a tie stamped with little dollar signs, its mouth dripping. To the pig’s right is a pile of rubble, discarded items of man’s over-consumption, and to the pig’s left are industrial smokestacks pumping out streams of pollution. The words “How much is enough?” are printed repetitively on the pig’s plaid suit coat.

Cornwall’s graphite drawing of “Greed” is accompanied by a quote from American journalist David Grayson: “Of all the people in the world, those who want the most are those who have the most.” In the drawing, a man with three hands holds three lollipops with his back turned away from a crying child who has none.

“Envy” is particularly well done. The piece is that of one face made up of six distinctly different, individually drawn parts sewed together with big stitches of thread, sort of like how Frankenstein was built. The piece begs the question, what defines you if all you do is want what everyone else has?

Redemption enters the picture in the form of Saint Joseph. In drawings and impressionistic paintings Cornwall tells the story of Joseph’s ordeal at being stripped of his coat of many colors by his brothers and sent away to die in exile. A good man, Joseph is favored by the Lord; he rises to become powerful in Egypt and a hero to the Israelites. In this context Joseph’s story gives hope in today’s world that seems to glorify the Seven Deadly Sins as the rich get richer while more and more of the poor show up on street corners as the homeless population grows.

“Seven Sins, One Saint” is on view until Feb. 15. Additional works by PLU faculty are on exhibit as well. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free. For more information, call (253) 535-7150.

PLU faculty artist illustrates death and redemption

By Matt Nagle

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