Pohjolaisen Viimeinen ehtoollinen pysyvästi Turun tuomiokirkkoon

It is very rare these days that an artist with such sensitivity and technical ability creates a figurative monument for the church that both speaks for our time and does justice to the artistic and architectural forms of the past. The reason why Pauno's icon is so successful is because it sits comfortably between the abstract and figurative monument, it responds to the desire for intimacy with restraint. It does not merely occupy the space, it fills the space and in doing so, embraces every single person that enters the chapel. I was totally overwhelmed by Pauno's work, I found the instant impact of the burnt wall behind the lamb of god was poignant considering that the cathedral itself has burned more than twenty times, but the immense sense of intimacy in the icon of christ on the chancel wall left me quiet and still. It was precisely the kind of response one hopes to be confronted when viewing a work in sacred space. It required no intellectual unpacking, the work was tuned into the same deafening silence that greets every visitor as they make their way through the nave. This image did not strike me as merely an artwork, it transcended its function as a work of art and with the aid of its current location, has become a very powerful icon for today. I hope that it can permanently remain in the place where it has been installed. To install contemporary art in a church, much less an historically significant space, is a sign of hope, an unflinching belief that the future holds just as much (if not more) relevance in shaping such a fundamental aspect of the human experience as faith in a transcendent other. That the church can grant priveledged space to the forms of today and engage in meaningful aesthetic and theological dialogue with the idioms and idiosyncracies of contemporary art is a remarkable feat.