Maria

Mary, the mother of Jesus. We know a few of her sayings, including: “Do whatever he tells you.” In other words: be obedient, not rebellious, do not argue or negotiate, but listen with your heart.

The statue I have made is not a depiction of some goddess or Madonna, not a cult figure or primal mother. As I see it, it is more about the woman who is praised for the role she fulfilled in the time in which she lived. She was a teenager with an extraordinary angelic encounter. She became a refugee, a brand-new mother, a man’s wife. She was involved with Jesus when he spoke to the people and explained the things of God’s kingdom. She was there when water turned into wine at a wedding. She was there in the last phase of Jesus’ life and afterwards…

In the two years I worked on this statue – it is now summer 2017 – there happened to be interesting news about Mary again and again. The Catharijneconvent in Utrecht put on an exhibition devoted to Mary, and a few theatre makers came up with a fascinating play called ‘Mariamonologen’. I visited both events, and gradually a broader picture emerged of the person I already knew from the Christian Bible.

Besides Mary, there is another person mentioned in the Bible who makes a similar impression on me. Perhaps because I am a man, this speaks to me. In the life of the first congregation there was a man… Read the whole story of Maria here.