Revival
Revival
Revival was a delightful commission by the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and a gift to the RN from the United Reformed Church. The painting is installed on the bulkhead (wall) of the Chapel onboard the RN’s flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Unveiled on the 8th of August 2022, Revival shows the reality that behind, around and within every machine is a human being. It shows the reality of the unimaginable hospitality of this aircraft carrier with no aircraft of its own, but the overwhelming ability to support teams of visitors who fly in on their own.
When I visited the first time, I was struck by sheer size. But more than that, I was inspired; I increasingly grasped her purpose while being led through her various decks and operations rooms. What I saw was the an overwhelming sense of hospitality. This Ship’s purpose is to welcome and house with the most extraordinary sense of practicality and professionalism. It has no purpose but to serve in the most profound sense. This touched me deeply and evokes the historic tradition of calling ships “she” because a vessel carries and protects. I had more of a sense of this on board HMSQE than I have experienced on any other vessel. The painting is shaped by this notion of hospitality with inclusivity at its heart.
Working counter clockwise from the bottom left, Wildcat helicopters arrive onboard slowly turning from aircraft into people. The people work their way into the ship, the cross section on the bottom right. None of the people are human colours, inviting viewers to see who they chose to see. People gather in groups to have conversations, plan, brief, relax, rewind. The yellow glows around and in between some of them are, to me, the light of God, the ultimate giver of inclusivity and revival who energises people to do the same. The circles and spots of that light are energy enfolding those who need deep care.
Eventually, working up to the top right corner, people emerge onto the flight deck with its ski slope to help lift those crafts and people out to other calls on their time and their focus. The people are lighter coloured now, able to lay down some of the burden they carried, and revived by the experience on board. The occasional dove swirls above them, a hint to a time when each human will choose compassion over greed and the world may be at peace.
The world is not at peace yet, so, moving across to the top left, people morph back into aircraft, this time F35s, the first fixed wing aircraft on an carrier. Revival has been real for the crews, all of them, as encounters between host crews and visitor crews will have been a blessing to all.
The whole piece is painted on steel panels and fixed with visible bolts, just like everything else onboard ship. Set away from the wall, there is space all around the panels. Set in a square looking a bit like a window frame, the gold wax on the centre corners evokes a cross for those who want to see a cross. The sky will be the attraction for many, as below decks, there are no portholes. Most crew barely see the sky during their service and the Chapel will welcome them to a reflective space as surely as this amazing ship welcomes anyone.
NOTE A far more professional photograph will follow in due course.