Stations of the Cross
Patron: St. Pius X Catholic Church (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Website: crpiusx.org
Project Description: Set of 14 icons depicting the passion, death and burial of the Lord. The icon set was installed in the nave of the church. Used primarily for processions on Fridays during Holy Lent, practiced in the Latin Tradition.
Timeline: Completed in May 2026
This project demanded applying the iconographic mode into a unique Latin devotion. Three motifs in the set were well established in the Byzantine tradition. I created the remaining eleven icons, informed by the iconographic language.
Icon Sketches
The shape of the icon with the pointed top was specifically requested by the patron. These sketches show the main structure of each icon, not including the description at the bottom or small details like their facial expressions.
Process
The project kicked off in September of 2025 and was completed in April of 2026. The in-person delivery took place the following month, on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
The icon boards are made of 3/4 in furniture-grade birch plywood, chosen due to the size of the boards and its stability. Once the boards were cut to size and the appropriate shape, strips of thinner plywood were glued to the borders to form the frame. This protects the central painted part when icons are stacked.
The boards were sanded smooth, and then protected with rabbit skin glue. Several coats of gesso were applied to the central part, and acrylic gesso to the borders and frame, where acrylic paint was applied. Finally, the boards were carefully sanded down.
Presentation and Installation
On the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, May 14 2026, I delivered the icons personally, so I took a 2-day road trip from Steubenville, OH to Cedar Rapids and delivered the icons to the parish.
After the talk, the parishioners processed the icons to the nave of the church and installed them in place. This set of icons completes the beautification project the parish had started a couple years ago, which has substantially improved the sanctuary and allowed parishioners to celebrate the divine mysteries in a more proper manner.
