Twenty one paintings on the Revelations of Divine Love of Julian of Norwich

Sheila Upjohn writes...

The Australian artist Alan Oldfield first encountered Julian of Norwich through the words “All shall be well” quoted by T.S Eliot in The Four Quartets.  After that he kept coming across references to her.   Finally he picked up a little book on his church book stall, and the words: “I saw that our faith is our light in darkness, and this light is God, our endless day” leapt out at him.  And he began to wonder whether it might be possible to paint Julian’s vision.   The book was Enfolded in Love - the Julian Shrine’s first publication.

See Sheila Upjohn's reflective video on Alan Oldfield's paintings here

Between 1985 and 1987  Oldfield completed a series of twenty one paintings Revelations of Divine Love of Julian of Norwich ranging in size from the 16ft x 6ft (195cm x 478cm) triptych to a tiny 6in x 4in (16cm x 12cm) head of Christ.  In 1988 these were flown from Australia for an exhibition in Norwich Cathedral.   Knowing that the paintings would never be seen together again once the exhibition was over, we decided to make a video to explore Julian’s Showings, using images from the series.  Music was recorded by the choir of Christchurch St Laurence in Sydney, where the idea for the project had first begun. 

The major painting in the series is owned by the Friends of Julian of Norwich. 

Alan Oldfield died in October 2004 aged 60