Sacred Heart of Eastwood

Porcelain Plate, Digital Image

I had an idea for sometime which would idolize an American figure as we idolize religious figures. For months and months I came up with ideas and various executions, but I couldn't project anything that I was comfortable with as a final piece. I took a step back began to think of celebrities that our culture knows and loves. I also took into account who these celebrities portray and what that means to us as viewers. I came to a personal favorite, Clint Eastwood, due to many reasons. Not only is he a highly well known actor, but most of his roles are portrayals of the great America man during various time periods. He generally portrays the hero, which in some instances can be a blurred version or can even be a darker-style hero. I chose his role as Blondie in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly due to the decisions that his character makes turning him to a profitable man in the end via gold (which replaces the heart in the famous religious rendition of Jesus). Obviously, the entity of Jesus is arguably different from that of Clint Eastwood, but Clint is a ideal, a character, and a vessel for story, just as Jesus is [religious folks grumble].

I find this piece to be pretty humorous as well as quite creepy, which is how I generally feel about most religious portrayal that follows a similar style. I took a clam shell plate, which is my way of utilizing an odd object to praise religious figures such as an upturned bathtub with a figure of Mary standing inside that one may see on many lawns of the world. I used my background in design to create the image and this was my first undertaking of an image transfer, which took many attempts to arrive at the desired result. I am very glad to see this piece finalized as it has morphed over time from just a humorous thought to completion that I am very pleased with.