Hidden Faith - The miracle of the Orient (2022) 绘画 由 Severn (Jie Cheng) Wang

Sakitsu, a village in Japan that used to be accessible only by sea because it was located on an isolated island, was the place where Japanese Christians hid 300 years ago to escape persecution by the Shogunate. In 1881, another French priest, Ferrie, Bernard Joseph, came to Japan and spent seven years visiting the Amakusa area, recording in his notes the customs and rituals of Sakitsu's hidden congregation. It is said that in the mid-Meiji period, 550 of the 600 households in Sakitsu were Christian. The present Sakitsu church was designed by Nagasaki architect Kazusuke Tetsukawa in 1927, and is built in a strong Gothic style with a Japanese tatami flooring inside. In 2011, Sakitsu Village was selected as an Important Cultural Landscape of Japan, and in 2018, it was registered as a World Heritage Site.
In this painting, I chose an overhead view to show the whole Sakitsu village as much as possible, not just the Sakitsu church. I wanted to show the villagers of Sakitsu, who have hidden their faith and passed it on for nearly 300 years under difficult circumstances.
I deliberately emphasized the road leading to the Sakitsu church in the picture to suggest the faith that most of the villagers in this area have dedicated their lives to. I also used white space and brightness contrast to give the illusion that the cross on the spire is shining in the picture.
Since the blue surface of the sea takes up a large area of the painting, if not handled properly it would create a monotonous and boring effect. In the past, I might have used methods such as adding color variations, adding boats, adding waves, etc., but in this painting such treatment would only destroy the contrast of the large shapes in the picture. Therefore, I lengthened the breakwater in the picture and used the linear structure of the breakwater to divide the sea into two parts, the top and bottom. A few small boats were added to the lower part of the sea to suggest that it is a fishing village. The upper part of the sea is kept as a whole blue, and the contrast with the buildings creates the above glittering effect.

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JapanWatercolorKumamotoSakitsuChurch