Chris Woods' passion: artist Chris Woods combines historical accuracy with a modern context to provide a powerful new vision of the crucifixion.

Sometimes, we can find artistic expressions of the activity of God. Often, we see portrayals of our contemporary world. Rarely, is there someone who can bring the two together powerfully.

Not since Canadian artist William Kurelek achieved this with his themes of abortion, materialism, human indifference and the threat of nuclear destruction have we had such a prophet of powerful vision and meticulous artistry. Art critics, from Vancouver, Toronto and New York are buzzing with excitement about 25-year-old Chris Woods, a Fraser Valley artist, whose paintings of The Stations of the Cross were exhibited at the Diane Farris Gallery in Vancouver earlier this year. Farris said over 100 people passed through the gallery -- her largest crowd ever. On February 14th, a 90-minute consecration ceremony drew a capacity crowd to St. David's Anglican Church in East Vancouver where The Stations of the Cross will be on permanent display for devotional use.

In November 1994, Woods received a request from a private patron to paint The Way of the Cross. The paintings were for liturgical use at St. David's Church. The stipulation was that the images of Jesus on his path to the crucifixion take place in modern settings.

Woods was overwhelmed initially. "How could I pull this off? What would a modern Jesus look like? Where would the scenes of the Stations take place? What would Roman soldiers wear in the 1990s?

"Eventually, however, I realized I was being given the opportunity to experience something that was once the cornerstone of the artist's trade -- creating images to illuminate the stories of the Bible for daily use in an established church. What also interested me was the fact that I was doing it at the behest of an honest-to-goodness patron -- patrons were another important element essential to the lives and careers of past artists.

"One may find it strange to set a 2,000-year-old biblical story in a modern context; however, Western artists throughout history (particularly during the Renaissance) frequently placed Jesus in their own time. One of my favourite examples is Caravaggio's painting The Calling of Saint Matthew, c. 1573-1610. In this painting, Jesus is calling Matthew to join him. Matthew, sitting at a table among other tax collectors, reacts to Jesus' call by pointing to himself as if to say, `Who, me?' Although Jesus is dressed in conventional, classical robes, the five figures are dressed in pure Renaissance costume, even down to their hose and featherplumed caps."

Woods and a handful of friends and models shot over 400 photos in a Chilliwack studio and built a replica wooden cross in preparation for the project. During the months Woods spent arranging the shootings, creating preparatory drawings and painting the panels, the congregation prayed for him.

Although he chose to paint biblical events in modern settings, Woods says he wanted to make them historically accurate. "I spent a lot of time reading the four Gospels in the New Testament."

The 2,000-year-old drama depicted on our doorstep -- incorporating Canada Place, the art gallery and Harbour Centre -- is both a spiritual awakening and a soul feast. It shows Jesus being nailed to the cross with construction spikes in Stanley Park by men in business suits and red ties. Jesus' contemporaries, young people with expressions of compassion and hostility, are wearing blue jeans and T-shirts.

"The entire commission, from the initial request in November 1994 to the final installation at St. David's in February 1996, took 15 months," said Woods. "I learned a lot from this commission. It has enhanced my technical, conceptual and historical skills, and it has improved me as a person and as an artist. It has given me a lot of valuable experience which I will use not only with future commissions but with my own work as well. I am grateful for the opportunity to work on such a project and I am equally grateful for being allowed to approach the imagery and content of these paintings in my own way."