Artist spots the face of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns in sculpture

2022-12-07

I be-leaf! Artist left stunned after face of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns appears in a tree root sculpture nailed to a wooden cross

Staff at Hull art gallery spotted the face of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns
Keith Key created the work to raise questions about how society treats trees
The artist suggested the face had emerged in mix of the oil and wood
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An artist was left stunned after the face of Jesus appeared in one of his tree root sculptures which had been nailed on a wooden cross.

Keith Key, who is studying at the University of Hull and the Hull College of Fine Arts, created the work Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani to raise questions about how society treats trees.

Staff at the Prospect Gallery in Hull spotted what looks like a face, resembling Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, appearing in the artwork.

Speaking to Hull Live, Keith said he believed the face had appeared due to the ‘mix of oil and sap of the wood.’

Face of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns appears in a tree root sculpture which was nailed on a wooden cross at Hull gallery (Artist Keith Key pictured with the sculpture)

The sculpture, titled, was created earlier this year for an exhibition called ‘Trees and Water a Fruitful Freedom’ which is being staged in the Prospect Gallery, at the Prospect Shopping Centre.

However Keith believes he has an explanation for the ‘strange phenomena’.

He admits others may disagree, given the religious connotations of the piece.

Keith said: ‘The two curators of the gallery, Denise and Andy, informed me last week that they can see a face that has appeared on the artwork, I went to look on Friday and I can see it too.’

The sculpture, titled, was created earlier this year for an exhibition called ‘Trees and Water a Fruitful Freedom’ which is being staged in the Prospect Gallery, at the Prospect Shopping Centre

‘I believe it is the mix of the oil and the sap of the wood, but as the piece has religious connotations others may think otherwise.’

However he went on to insist the piece was ‘not religious’ despite being ‘based on religion.

He explained it was about society’s attitude toward trees and how we are ‘crucifying them.’

It comes after a woman who claims she saw a crucified Jesus Christ in the pith of her clementine called the discovery a divine sign that she was ‘doing the right thing’.

Staff at the art gallery spotted what looks like a face, resembling Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, appearing in the artwork

Jamie Thomas, 45, was mulling over a big move from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Catterick, North Yorkshire – which would see her get settled in, married, and begin a new job in the same week – when she got what she considered to be the message from above.

The mother-of-five was on her lunch break when she peeled away at her snack, only to see the outline of a ‘little man’ – who on a closer look seemed to be hanging from a cross – in the citrus.

She said the fruit find had helped her feel reassured in the mammoth decision.

She admitted that ‘doubts were going through her head’ before the clementine-shaped blessing.