2024 Student Art Contest Winners

Through its inaugural campus-wide contest, the University of Notre Dame’s Crucifix Initiative has selected two original pieces by student artists to add to its permanent collection. The winning artworks by seniors K. Mae Harkins and Elijah Mustillo will be displayed in classrooms in O’Shaughnessy Hall, where they will inspire Notre Dame students for years to come.

First prize winner

K. Mae Harkins

Materials

ceramic, glaze, underglaze, steel

Artist's statement

Lord, when did we see you? Christ has no body but ours. Lord, when did we see ourselves? We are all parts of the Body of Christ; without any one of us the Church is incomplete, and yet many of us remain unrepresented and unacknowledged in the Church.

This crucifix is inspired by the lack of representation of Black people in the Church. Even in parishes with large Black populations, the large Jesus behind the altar is frequently starkly pale. How are my Black siblings in Christ to see themselves as Christ to the world when we visually taught, time and time again, that Jesus is a white man?

This ceramic crucifix is inspired by art from Black artists. The bold colors incorporated in the work and the pattern of the halo are inspired by African art, particularly Kanga textiles, and the figure of Jesus and the form of the cross are modeled after the distorted, sometimes abstract figures seen in art from the Harlem Renaissance. Jesus is clad in plaid boxers, a modern article of clothing, so that we might look at him and remember that the story of Jesus is not an ancient story, but one that we live today.

Runner-up

Elijah Mustillo

Materials

Paper, ink, paint

Artist's statement

I depicted the crucifixion through a linocut block print which I accented with gold.

I included elements of traditional iconography to signify the divinity of Christ on the cross. The gold background and halo as well as the red lettering are reminiscent of traditional Catholic and Orthodox depictions of holy figures.

I wanted to express the grief of the crucifixion. In my imagination, Jesus cries through the stations of the cross. He cries for himself, his persecutors, for his family and his friend, for his Father. The crucifixion is the climax of the stations; the moment of the most inexplicable, poignant grief. In my linocut print, I combined these aspects of Christ's humanity and divinity: Christ's tears framed by artistic qualities traditionally used to represent Christ's divinity.