A cloud of witnesses: Chris Andrews reviews a residency in which mark cazalet painted portraits of the people of bury St Edmunds.

Andrews, Chris

The Cathedral community of St Edmundsbury are grateful that Mark Cazalet has, this past year, given us an opportunity to enter a space where the disciplines of visual art meet those of contemplative prayer and meditation. This opportunity was offered both to those who sat for the artist and to the many who enjoyed the long and colourful chain of portraits which gradually were hung around the nave and the eastern chapels over recent months.

During his year-long residency at the cathedral Cazalet painted 153 people, head and shoulders, who sat with him for 30 minutes of silent meditation, each person having chosen the two principal colours and the canvas the artist was to use. An important element in the dynamic was the generosity of Cazalet in making this opportunity, to give time and attention to people in this way. Many of those who sat were regular worshippers, some were strangers and visitors. For a few it was a surprising invitation and welcome into a place and church where they hardly felt they belonged.

To call these sessions a 'sitting' would be to miss Cazalet's intention; this was an opportunity for encounter and exchange at a number of levels for both the subject and the artist. The meeting place was the 'positive silence' (Thomas Merton) to be shared and explored by both. Each person was given time to settle into the setting for the painting. For this Cazalet had chosen a light-filled gallery in the cathedral at one remove from the daily activity below; a lighted candle provided focus for attention, meditation or prayer; an empty chair nearby suggested the possibility of another presence. In the paintings about one third of the subjects have their eyes open; most faces are in repose. All the paintings were completed in the time agreed, except one when the session was interrupted and a second painting was completed. All were hung on the same day they were completed and the resulting freshness and spontaneity of the work is evident at a glance.

Engagement and exchange between artist and subject can happen at a number of levels and did on these occasions. For many the experience was focussed, calming and reassuring but not for all. For a number it allowed a grief or a sadness to surface, perhaps to be addressed or acknowledged.

In consequence, while some of the faces are calm and concentrated others tell another tale. Only a few have a sort of emptiness behind them. Most of the paintings are full-face, several are in profile. Most are suffused with the energy of the encounter. Using only the chosen colours--quite a discipline in itself--Cazalet often employed quite strong geometrical shapes to highlight the facial surfaces and features, making a reference to theatrical make-up and the emphasis this can give to both facial and inner characteristics. Strong or contrasting colours had not been chosen by everyone and those paintings using gentler, pastel tones are often of faces that look more peaceful and composed. Some of the paintings will have been more overtly true to life than others. Others may have been in a real sense a revelation to the subjects themselves, perhaps also to the artist.

Both artist and subject had to take a deep breath to engage in this half hour of being together. There were no second chances for either--well, only in one case. It involved, for both, a willingness to be vulnerable that opens a door into Christian spirituality. What is more challenging? To be face to face with God or with oneself? Cazalet has addressed both possibilities with confidence and humanity.

The energy generated by such a large gallery of faces created a powerful and rewarding sense of presence and companionship in the cathedral for the months they were on display. In this gallery the cathedral was peopled with witnesses, some known to us, some unknown but all growing more familiar and more valued week by week. Those of us who are in the cathedral regularly are missing this company of people now that they have been dispersed. Their silent presence was strong and reassuring.

The whole gallery of 153 paintings evoked the ikonostasis of an Orthodox church and the cloud of witnesses that lifts the prayer of those buildings. (The coloured grid of all the pictures together used for publicity was striking in this regard, as was the corresponding grid of all the photographs of the subjects taken at the end of the session, printed in the end cover of the catalogue.) Cazalet has given us a host of reminders of the infinite variety and beauty of the human face and the uniqueness of each one, yet all in the image of the one God. Such is the scale and generosity of his achievement in this year, making possible the many encounters in prayer, meditation and artistic concentration that have enriched the life, worship and ministry of the cathedral over these months.

Neil MacGregor has written of the work of the artist in seeking to convey religious truth: 'Images are inadequate but the answer is not to ban them but to multiply to infinity the opportunities for contemplation they afford.' (1) 153 isn't infinity but Cazalet has helped us to see how much can be achieved when we allow the disciplines of contemplation and artistic endeavour to engage and work together.

Chris Andrews is a retired parish priest and lives in Bury St Edmunds

(1.) Neil MacGregor, The Image of Christ for the exhibition 'Seeing Salvation' in 2000 at the National Gallery, London.