The Story of my Sculpture of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

The Story of my Sculpture of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

 by Tony Fernandes

 (The shortest story ever told, so please read). Thanks.

It was late autumn of the year 1991. A three feet tall statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, in transit from the Philippines, arrived in Sharjah, with a broken right hand which was unfortunately damaged and broken into pieces at the wrist, near the lower portion of the tunic from the outstretched arm.

In need of urgent repair of this statue, my sister-in-law asked me for help - if I could make a new right hand, and I said I would definitely try. A slab of white sculpting clay was provided to me, and in right earnest I assigned myself a task which I considered as a challenge, privilege and a blessing, all at the same time.

So, by looking at the left hand of the statue which was intact, I had to inversely sculpt a mirror image, and attach the new hand, in situ, with glue and wire reinforcement drilled into the existing sleeve of the tunic. After completion of the new right hand I painted it in matching colours of the left hand, much to the delight and approval of the committee.

Now, here is where the story takes a new turn, and of course, for the better. A small amount of white clay remained from the above project, and a new idea was born; a new thought and a new challenge came into being. I did this by undertaking the work of sculpting an image of Jesus Christ on the Cross from the left-over clay by using holy pictures as references. Then I made a wooden cross and fastened the finished work to it.

Ever since that time this image has adorned the walls of every new home that we have dwelt in, and accompanied us into every home that we have moved into. It goes along with our family from house to house, continent to continent, and has also been to India and back to Canada, and presently adorns the wall of the foyer of the house where we presently reside.