Liturgy of the Eucharist (2019)

Liturgy of the Eucharist derives its name from the aspect of Catholic mass that follows the reading of the Gospel passage; culminating in the priest’s consecration of the body and blood of Christ. In this ritual, it is believed that the ordinary wafer and wine are literally transformed into the body of blood of Christ, in a process known as “transubstantiation”. Liberation theologian Jon Sobrino, in his classic work “Jesus the Liberator: A Historical-Theological Reading of Jesus of Nazareth”, refers to the communities of peoples victimized by hegemonic regimes as the “crucified body of Christ in history”. As someone who was nearly killed by a New Orleans Police Officer, I made this work out of that experience, and in solidarity with the many thousands of black men and women whose lives were needlessly taken by agents of the American police state. This installation consecrates their memory and depicts their lives, in a liturgical context, as the crucified body of Christ in the American present.