FRACTIONS
The Fraction Project began at the Easter Eucharist in St John the Baptist Church, Bilborough. The idea was to simply record with a quick drawing at the altar after the fraction of the host, the randomised configuration of the sacred bread. I was a priest overseeing three churches with different traditions. I continued at three other churches, completing the project 11 years later.
As an artist, I was simply interested in the pattern and design of what was before my eyes to which I alone was privy before the distribution of the sacrament. As a priest, I was aware of the holiness of the moment so the patterns were either drawn on a very small pad at the altar or were memorised and drawn directly after the service. I also wanted to share through art what I do as a priest with the people of God.
In the first Lockdown, when the streets were quiet, I decided to redraw sketches ready for presentation. When my son William McGrath was here in the summer lull, we began to imagine how the photographed sketches could be put together as a virtual image in the way that we present it now. Fifty-Two Fractions to represent each week in the year. The virtual nature of the Fraction image reflects what had to become normal in Lockdowns 1, 2,& 3, as priests recorded the Eucharist and sent it out on various platforms into the homes of the faithful. There through the magnified image, all that a priest performs at the altar is clearly seen.
The Fraction Project, therefore, becomes through its physical recording and restructured virtual image, a living memorial for our time.
Each drawing 6” x 8” graphite and palm ash on numbers 19,20,23,28
