Edouard Vallerand

Praying

Praying is a depiction of a gaunt naked figure, who is unrobing himself to pray to a statue. The statue has jet black tentacles wiggling and writhing from it, searching for anything to grab, it is standing the classical contrapposto stance with one arm up, representing his divinity and beckoning his worshipper. The entire painting is rendered in black and white. The work is inspired by the artist's own experience growing in the catholic faith in Quebec, and how he found the opulence of the church clash with the eldritch horror of its belief. How the stories told seem so other worldly and yet impossible to truly conceive, which gives a sense of dread when contemplating them.