Written by: Sana Shahid
Posted on: February 13, 2025 | 
| 中文
I Will Give Them a New Heart II
‘Wounds of Love’ is an art exhibition that is a profound meditation on suffering, spirituality and transformation. Known for his meticulous graphite, charcoal and sculptural works, Julius John Alam explores the connection of pain and grace, drawing from religious iconography and deep personal narratives. His artistic approach embodies a fusion of fragility and resilience, questioning the boundaries between the corporeal and the divine.
Julius John Alam
Alam’s work often involves themes of faith, suffering and transcendence. The exhibition presents a series of drawings and sculptures that respond to the sacred imagery of Christian theology, particularly the suffering body of Christ. Through his pieces, Alam renders this suffering not merely as a historical or a religious event, but as a universal experience, accessible to all who have felt the weight of loss, endurance, and redemption.
The Curtain of the Temple Tore in Two
His drawings, rendered in graphite and charcoal, display an astonishing depth of texture and emotional intensity. Works such as ‘He Will Not Put Out a Flickering Candle’ and ‘The Curtain of the Temple Tore in Two’ depict moments of spiritual significance with haunting delicacy. The detailed pencil strokes in these compositions create an unworldly quality, blurring the boundary between presence and absence, form and void. The imagery presents subtle gradation of shades that are blurry, making it look like the artworks are seen from a distance, even though it is right in front of you.
He Will Not Put Out a Flickering Candle
Consisting of both drawings and sculptures, these works investigate the marks of Christ’s suffering, but they do so in a way that is deeply introspective rather than explicitly religious. The charcoal drawings ‘Stigmata I-IV’ offer raw, expressive marks that suggest both wounds and portals into another realm. Meanwhile, ‘Stigmata IV’, a marble sculpture, transforms the idea of suffering into something weighty yet delicate, permanent yet vulnerable. The polished surface of the stone evokes the duality of pain and sanctity, making it both a relic and a contemporary meditation on bodily endurance. Though the material that the artist has used is marble, the soft skin of the feet displays delicacy and peace, whereas the teardrop-shaped portal in the middle represents distress and a feeling of discomfort. It is quite astonishing to witness the complimenting merger of such opposites in an artwork.
Stigmata III
Perhaps the most evocative works in the exhibition are his sculptural pieces, particularly ‘He Walked on Water’ and ‘The Weight of Prayer’. The former, a marble sculpture, captures a moment of impossibility, a statement of faith over physical constraints while the latter, a small bronze piece, is intimate and tactile, embodying the burden and solace of devotion. Alam’s use of material in these works is deeply symbolic: marble, with its associations of permanence and history, contrasts with the constant development of faith, while bronze, often used in memorials, reinforces the weight of spiritual labor.
The theme of renewal runs throughout the exhibition, particularly in the pieces ‘I Will Give You a New Heart’ and ‘I Will Give Them a New Heart II’. These sculptures in marble and air-hardened clay play with the concept of transformation, physical and spiritual. The heart, a symbol of love and suffering, becomes a vessel for change, echoing the biblical promises of redemption and renewal. With the help of white marble, in contrast with red hardened clay, the artist emphasizes the depiction of time through sculptures. The red hardened clay in the first piece of this series that emphasizes the reality of mortality, and the white marble in the second edition, symbolize the world after death, the permanence, the peace and quiet. Words like ‘Fana’ and ‘An’na’ are written on these pieces, further pressing on the inescapable reality of mortality.
I Will Give You a New Heart III
‘Treasures in Jars of Clay I’, the reference to scripture where human fragility is likened to clay vessels holding divine treasure, resonates deeply in the context of Alam’s compositions. All of the themes contemplate the ideas of spirituality, survival, eternal life and the significance of embracing them. Alam has shown the human body and the different parts constantly striving to find a path towards spirituality and stay grounded to reality of existence. Alam’s depictions of sacred moments from the tearing of the temple curtain, the stigmata, or the renewal of the heart are lacking rather traditional iconography. There is no embellishment, only the raw essence of reality.
Treasures in Jars of Clay I
Beyond its religious connotations, Wounds of Love also speaks to broader themes of memory and trauma. Alam’s choice of medium whether it is graphite, charcoal, marble, or bronze echoes the permanence of scars, both physical and emotional. These materials, often associated with strength and history, further reinforce the idea that suffering leaves a mark, but within this mark lies the potential for healing. In this sense, the exhibition becomes a space for collective reflection, where personal and communal histories of pain can find resonance proceeded with relief.
Through his masterful pieces of drawing and sculpture, Alam creates a visual language that is at once ancient and contemporary, sacred and secular. Whether one approaches his work from a place of faith, philosophy, or personal reflection, the impact remains the same: a quiet, profound mindfulness of the wounds we carry and the power that sustains us.
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