Jesus the Stone that was rejected.

iii. Rock (Oil on Canvas. Faces Series: Jesus, the Rejected Stone, 2002 Collection of the artist.)

Rock-imagery is, again, central to biblical stories. There is the rock struck by Moses in the desert, from which water gushed out and quenched the thirst of God’s people. This struck rock recalls the words of Psalmist (quoted by Peter) speaking of a living rock, rejected by the builders, but now a corner-stone of such great worth. The prophet Isaiah is quoted too: this rock can for some people become a rock of offence or stumbling. More often, though, the Lord is the ‘rock of our salvation’, ‘our defence’, ‘our fortress’.

Again, Jyoti relates the ‘rejected’, ‘broken’ rock to the Dalit Jesus. Dal can mean broken, crushed, and this image shows the broken, fractured figure of Jesus rather as we see his form in the Holy Shroud, where we are reminded that Jesus was not only pierced, but struck in the face and crowned with thorns.