Brian Kershisnik's enormous painting "Nativity" has a message that is both obvious and up for interpretation. The work of art, 17 feet wide by 7 feet tall, is clearly a representation of Christ's birth, but that doesn't mean its meaning is the same for everyone, the artist said.
Kershisnik spent six months in 2006 painting the piece that is now on display through Jan. 2 at the Utah Museum of Fine Art, located in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building at 410 Campus Center Drive in Salt Lake City. He said that while he's responsible for every aspect of the composition, he didn't set out to raise certain questions with viewers or evoke specific emotions when he started putting paint to canvas.
"In a funny way, I'm not the ultimate word on what my painting accomplishes," he said.
On the lower right side of "Nativity," Mary is seen nursing a very recently born Jesus, and two midwives wash cloths while gazing at the infant. Joseph sits behind Mary, his right hand held to his face. A dog with a litter of puppies looks upward to the 100 or so heavenly hosts of all ages dressed in white who crowd the rest of the painting.
"People say that they're angels or spirits," Kershisnik said. "And I think that they're probably right."
Most of the crowd looks excitedly down at the scene, and a few look out at the viewer. As Kershisnik describes it, "Order has just broken down, because everybody just wants to see. And they're just falling over each other, trying to show the little ones."
Kershisnik said the painting is somewhat autobiographical, as he believes that "our proceedings are witnessed."
"In my experience with the birth of my children … those felt like very heavily attended and witnessed events on a spiritual level. The room felt very occupied and full," he said. Those experiences make him wonder at how many spirits must have been present at Christ's birth, at "how many unnumbered people were all depending on this going through."
Kershisnik said for him, the painting is a representation of how the Son of God willingly came to Earth, a place far from the heavenly world he was used to. Kershisnik sees this message in the physical cues of the main subjects. He see sees it in the way Mary appears tired, with circles beneath her eyes. He sees it in the way baby Jesus is "still wet, and still kind of an alarming color."
"Part of what I'm doing in this painting is kind of marveling at his coming down into our dirt. And to our sweat and our blood. He came here; he came to where we are," Kershisnik said. "And so it seemed appropriate to paint a mother who is sweaty … and flushed, and tired. And a little baby who has blood smeared on him, and (is) hungry."
But just because Mary isn't depicted as otherworldly in beauty doesn't mean her stature as the mother of God doesn't come through.
"When I look at Mary in this painting, I find her to be very beautiful, but she is not at her best," Kershisnik said. "And we understand that."
As a father of three, Kershisnik said he can relate to Joseph's awe-struck expression. He projects that in the moment captured in the painting, Joseph is feeling the weight of his responsibilities. Though Kershisnik was initially intimidated by the painting's sacred subject matter and the sheer size of the canvas — which he originally stretched with another painting in mind — the task wasn't so daunting once he began.
"Very quickly as I worked on the painting I wasn't intimidated anymore," he said. "I just spent all the time thinking about how marvelous and unbelievable that he would come, (that) he came. Oh, it's good he came."
"Nativity" has received the most attention of any of Kershisnik's individual works, being displayed in several exhibits. This is the second time it has been on display at the Utah Museum of Fine Art. Kershisnik is quick to point out that the reason it has resonated with people is not because he created a great painting, but because by looking at it people are reminded of the Lord.
"For reasons that I don't fully understand, for them this painting has helped them remember that thing they love," he said. "And they like to be reminded of that."
And while it's good for him as a professional artist to have people admire his work, he said the work should never distract people from having a relationship with God. "The way to know God is not to get the best picture of him, it's to work with him. … I have been useful if it turns people to the actual events, not to the painting, and not to the artist."
E-MAIL: mfarmer@desnews.com