From death to life

An exhibition of works by the Glasgow-based artist Peter Howson opened on Sunday at the Maclaurin Gallery in Ayr. The exhibition, entitled ‘From Death to Life’ contains works with ‘a mixture of dark subject matter and images of strength and hope that reflect on the artist’s life over the last year;  a transformation from despair to recovery and joy.’

Peter Howson is famous for the uniquely-imagined style of his art, for the dark themes he tackles, and for his own wrestling over the years with alcoholism, depression, and the challenge of living with Asperger’s disease.

We are constantly reminded of the darkness surrounding us. Alleged hypocrisy in the Roman Catholic Church; alleged sexual exploitation within a political party; the continuing tragic conflict in Syria; research showing the destructive effect pornography on our children; news of individual acts of inhumanity.

It’s true there’s only a certain amount of darkness we can bear, so that we distance ourselves from it, push it away.  It is good to focus on the positive, but such focus is only authentic when it acknowledges that we live in a sad, sick, fallen world which we can’t fix ourselves, because the seeds of darkness lurk in our own hearts.  The beauty we see around us and in our lives is only a glimmering of the beauty which could be were it not for the malign destructiveness of sin which leaves nothing unfingered.

Some of us see the power of darkness more clearly than others. Peter Howson is one of these. And he paints the hurting world around him as one aware of inner pain. Recently, he spent time as a psychiatric patient in Glasgow, struggling with bi-polar depression.

He recalls a turning-point in his treatment, when a kindly nurse told him ‘Peter, in here is Death. Out there is Life.’

The ‘From Death to Life’ exhibition portrays darkness and light: studies of some of the people he met in hospital; images reflecting his journey back to life. Nearly There shows the head of a man, bathed in light; in New Life the figure walks shorewards through shallow water. Both paintings feature a church steeple – a frequent symbol in Howson’s work.

The artist has always been aware of God, but as he told Lorna Grady in a TV interview in 2010 he had always pushed God away until moment when, in a rehabilitation centre ‘I opened myself up and opened my hands out to God.’ It was the beginning of a transformation in his life and attitude to God. He told Grady that he was ‘still doing quite dark subjects but with a lot of hope in them now.’

Though sorely tested, his faith remained during his time as a psychiatric patient. Says his web site ‘he continued to pray for healing for both himself and the other patients.’

The story of Jesus was a journey through death to life. As we follow in his footsteps – as individuals, as communities, as a nation – so we too journey from death to life. Ultimately the whole universe will we believe, rise from the dead in the glory of a cosmic Easter.

Christians acknowledge the darkness. But for us beauty does not simply sadden with its sense of what might have been: it reminds us of what will be – now, as we bring light to our communities, and ultimately at that great Easter to come.

In a recent interview in The Times, Howson described the rebirth of his creativity and joy. ‘I do a kind of dance when I’m painting well, whistling and dancing, when it’s flowing out of me. That’s not happened for a long time. But it’s coming back.’

This resonates with us in our own recoveries of joy, but the words symbolise God the creator, a whistling God, palette in hand, jigging with delight, all things new flowing from him.

That advice about life being ‘out there’ was clearly right for Howson. But what about those remaining in the ward? Must their experience be unrelieved ‘death’? Well, as the artist told Grady, speaking of his time in the Bosnian war-zone ‘sometimes in the most extreme situations you feel closest to God.’ Sometimes when the pain is at its most profound - in psychiatric wards, in lonely bereaved bedrooms, in the depths of our despair – sometimes when the night is darkest comes that sustaining sense that we are not alone.

Howson’s web site tells his he paints for ‘his salvation and serenity.’ His production of new works is a sign that still he is able to ‘find peace within himself, one canvas at a time.’ And so it is with our faith as, day by day, prayer by prayer, conversation by conversation we choose life, and in so choosing foretaste that coming Easter.

Christian Viewpoint column from the Highland News dated 7th March 2013.