Iris Adrienne Langlois-Smith

If You Knew How Much I Love You You Would Weep With Joy

3' x 5'. Oil on canvas.

“Bloor-Yonge mother Mary "Hundreds of thousands of darting commuters pass through here each day, leaving fingerprints, breathing the stale air. As I tune out the excessive stimuli, I choose to believe no one notices the tears under my surgical mask. I held my grandmother (Mémé)’s hand as she passed, and ever since I had been receiving visits from monarch butterflies and bluejays. Walking up the escalator, the Virgin Mary comes into view. Her arms are outstretched, plexiglass shine over her ceramic body and the words “If you knew how much I love you, you would weep with joy.” It’s an ad for a corny Christian TV station. On any other day I might scoff or otherwise just appreciate the kitsch. But today I do weep. And I accept this, too, as a sign. "”