Holy Grail

2024

oil on canvas

152 × 101.5 cm (59 ⅞ × 40 inches)

"I put myself into this painting, and I wanted to make this big pile of books to magnify the idea that the book is one delivery system for information from the Other World. I painted grails on every page as a reference back to Jack Spicer, who has a book of poems called The Holy Grail. In an interview, Jack Spicer talks about the grail as a magical and elusive thing, a thing to be searched for. I also wanted to depict the Holy Grail because it is a significant object in Christian mythology—the cup that Christ bled into—intertwined with the story of the Holy Chalice from Christ’s Last Supper. Finally, the Holy Grail is a vessel, a receiving-thing, in the same way that the poets and saints are receivers of information." - Brittany Miller